Laboratory Animal Science Center (BUMC)
Eligibility Criteria for Rodent Singly-housed Per Diem Rate
Eligibility Criteria for Rodent Singly-housed Per Diem Rate
Eligibility for the reduced per diem rate that may be applied to rats or mice housed 1 per cage requires that specific criteria be met. Rodents housed 1 per cage are not automatically charged the singly-housed rate. All rats and mice are charged the standard applicable rate unless all of the following criteria have been met and a formal agreement between the Principal Investigator and the LASC has been signed. The Single Housing Application can be opened in Word and saved to your hard drive. Download the application and then save it to your desktop to make changes to it.
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Housing at one per cage must be scientifically or medically justified. Evaluation of scientific and/or medical needs will be provided by the IACUC and/or the LASC Veterinary Staff.
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Housing at one per cage must be continuous over a significant period of time. Rodents that move back and forth between single housing and group housing are not eligible for the single housing rate.
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Housing at one per cage must involve a significant number of cages and a significant proportion of the Investigator's total cage population. The single housing rate will not be applied if the daily census averages fewer than 10 mouse cages or fewer than 5 rat cages at one animal per cage.
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Cages to be charged the reduced rate for singly-housed rats or mice must be grouped together within an animal room. Singly-housed cages must be placed on a single shelving rack or adjacent racks. Cages scattered throughout an animal housing room will not be eligible for a special rate.
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Housing at one per cage must involve a standard LASC rodent cage. One per cage housing in metabolic caging is not eligible for special rates, as metabolic cage maintenance is very labor intensive due to the numerous small cage parts that must be disassembled and reassembled.
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The investigator must agree to a reduced cage change frequency to merit lower rates. The standard reduction in cage change frequency for singly-housed rats and mice is 50%. Based on current LASC practices, the investigator must agree to a mouse cage change frequency of once every 2 weeks or a rat cage change frequency of once per week to qualify for a singly-housed rate.
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A reduced cage change frequency must be acceptable by animal care standards. Reduced cage change frequency is not acceptable if animals are diabetic and produce copious amounts of urine, for example.
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The investigator must agree to maintain an accurate census of the singly-housed cages on a census sheet that is marked for single housing. This census will be periodically confirmed by the LASC staff.
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Investigators who are eligible for a special rate must sign an agreement to indicate that their activities will conform to the standards described above for the duration of the study. The review of eligibility criteria is relevant only to the specifics of the situation at hand. The singly-housed rate will not automatically apply to the investigator's future activities.
