Table 1.
Ethogram with descriptions, and percent time the behaviours were observed in the standard and the complex housing systems.
| Behaviour | Sub-behaviour | Description | Percent of time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | Complex | |||
| Abnormal | Behaviour that is disturbing, destructive or detrimental to the physiological, psychological and social well-being of a mouse and cage mates | 2.8% | 1.3% | |
| Bar-mouthing | Sham biting on a fixed area of the feeder bars | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| Circle | Repetitive tracing of a loosely circular path | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| Vacuum digging | Stationary digging of cage floor after bedding was dug out of the way | 2.8% | 1.3% | |
| Affiliative** | Behaviour that functions to develop or strengthen social bonds | 38.7% | 49.5% | |
| Allogrooming | Being licked or licking the fur of another mouse | 1.3% | 1.1% | |
| Not visible with partner(s) | Focal mouse and at least one other mouse are not visible in the nest | 26.3% | 29.4% | |
| Rest with partner(s) | Lying down with another mouse (less than approximately 0.5 cm apart) | 11.1% | 19.0% | |
| Agonism | Social interaction that allows mouse to gain control of actual or future resources at the expense of another mouse | 0.2% | 0.6% | |
| Attack | Aggressive act where the focal mouse is the actor or receiver of an attack or a bite | 0.2% | 0.0% | |
| Chase | Following or being followed immediately before or after an attack | 0.0% | 0.4% | |
| Tunnel war | Two or more mice trying to go in opposite directions in the tunnel | n/a | 0.2% | |
| Climb | Suspended from the feeder | 2.6% | 1.9% | |
| Frisky | Sudden skipping, hopping, jerky bouncy movements | 1.3% | 1.7% | |
| Locomotion** | General locomotion that is not otherwise defined | 5.9% | 12.1% | |
| Maintenance | Behaviour that maintains the physiological stasis, comfort and appearance of the mouse | 16.3% | 13.0% | |
| Drink | Licking the nozzle of the drinker | 0.7% | 0.8% | |
| Eat | Gnawing food pellets from the feeder | 5.4% | 4.1% | |
| Self-groom | Stroking, licking or scratching any part of own body | 10.2% | 8.1% | |
| Mount | Mounting or being mounted from behind | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| Move bedding | Moving bedding material from one cage to another | n/a | 0.6% | |
| Nest build | Manipulating bedding, nesting material or nestlet to form a nest | 9.6% | 5.8% | |
| Carrying | Carrying pieces of bedding or nesting material in mouth | 1.1% | 0.9% | |
| Digging | A series of fast alternating movements of the forepaws, scraping back material. | |||
| Fluffing | Walls of nest appear to jump as the whole nest enlarges | |||
| Pulling-in | Reaching out of nest and pulling nesting material towards the nest | |||
| Push-digging | Forward pushing and kicking of bedding material with fast alternating movements of the forepaws | |||
| Shoveling | Plunging of nose into bedding material and burrowing under | |||
| Sorting | Placing specific nesting or bedding material into a particular location, while sitting in the nest | |||
| Fraying | Sideways movements of the forepaws to draw substrate through the mouth | 8.5% | 4.9% | |
| Not visible alone* | Only the focal mouse is not visible in the nest | 5.2% | 2.3% | |
| Rear | Raised on her hind legs and extending head upwards | 3.3% | 3.2% | |
| Rest alone** | Lying down alone; not in the nest | 10.7% | 4.5% | |
| Sniff (undirected) | Holding nose in the air and away from any identifiable stimulus | 2.8% | 2.8% | |
| Sniff (social) | Focal mouse is the actor or receiver of an olfactory investigation of a conspecific | 0.6% | 0.6% | |
Non-bolded text is used for behaviours that occurred too rarely to meet model assumptions and were therefore not subjected to statistical analysis. Bolded text indicates behaviours that were analysed statistically; bolded and italicised text indicates behaviours that were significantly different between housing systems, where *denotes p < 0.05 and **denotes p < 0.01.