Stainless Steel Rodent Feeder Bowl

The designed rodent watering/feeder dish allows for rapid confirmation of oral administration in a variety of matrices and eliminates the need for the unpredictable gavage procedure. The dish is fabricated using 20 gauge stainless steel. In addition, the stainless steel goes through an electropolishing and passivation process to ensure the surface has smooth edges, is corrosion resistant, is free of contaminants, and is easy to clean. The dish allows the mixing of drugs directly to any available food matrix (such as peanut butter, yogurt, or cheese) and allows visual confirmation of drug uptake by animals.  It also allows for administration of a defined volume of water (up to 3ml) for water restricted behavior animals.

The use of the rodent watering/feeder dish results in animals adapting to the feeder bowl quickly and effortlessly. The watering/feeder dish is designed to accommodate multiple types and various numbers of rodents in a cage. In addition, the watering/feeder dish is designed to fit 75 sq in standard rodent “shoebox” cages. Furthermore, the feeder system could be fabricated easily and cost effectively by metal fabricators.

Advantages:

• Allows oral administration of drugs or other active ingredients in an efficient manner
• Prevents the necessity of using gavage procedures which require special animal handling skills and is time consuming
• Allows confirmation of drug or water intake by animals
• Improves sanitation and maintenance due to the fabrication with durable materials that resist wear from daily usage

Application:

• Drug or active ingredient administration in rodent research studies
• Supplemental water administration for water restricted behavior studies

Opportunity:

Free to make for Non-Profit Research by downloading designs at Flintbox (see link at upper right) and rights and designs available for Commercial License.

For inquiries, please reference:

Janelia 2012-024