Table 2.

Assessment scale for nesting building phase (adapted from Deacon, 2006).

Score	Criteria
1	Nesting material not noticeably touched (more than 90% left unmoved)
2	Nesting material partially manipulated or shredded (50–90% remaining intact)
3	Nesting material mostly manipulated or shredded but no identifiable nest site (nesting material is torn but the material is not gathered into a nest within one quarter of the area of the cage floor and is spread around the cage)
4	An identifiable but flat nest (nesting material is torn and gathered into a nest within one quarter of the area of the cage floor, but is flat and walls no higher than the height of the mouse's body.
5	A (near) perfect nest (nesting material is torn and gathered into one quarter of the area of the cage floor. The nest is a crater with walls higher than or completely enclosing the mouse)