Maintenance and breeding of Thrichomys (Trouessart, 1880) (Rodentia: Echimyidae) in captivity

AUTOR(ES)

Teixeira, Bernardo Rodrigues, Roque, André Luiz R, Barreiros-Gómez, Simone Cristina, Borodin, Pavel Mikhailovitch, Jansen, Ana Maria, D'Andrea, Paulo Sérgio

FONTE

Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz

DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2005-10

RESUMO

South American histricognath rodents Thrichomys apereoides laurentius and Thrichomys pachyurus are natural hosts of Trypanosoma cruzi, agent of Chagas disease. We established breeding colonies of these species to serve as experimental models in various parasitological studies. Both species of Thrichomys have all the requirements necessary to become excellent laboratory models: they can be easily maintained in the standard laboratory conditions and breed throughout the year and they do not have any special dietary demands and can be fed by standard food pellets designed for laboratory mice. Both species produce precocious offspring that have their eyes and ears open, teeth erupted, fur well developed, and can eat solid food in the first week of life. T. a. laurentius has larger litter sizes and lower body masses at birth and weaning than T. pachyurus. Moreover, females of T. a. laurentius reach puberty earlier and with lower body mass than T. pachyurus.

Documentos Relacionados

• First report of partial albinism in genus Thrichomys (Rodentia: Echimyidae)
• Padrões de variação geografica em Thrichomys aperoides (Rodentia: Echimyidae)
• Use of space by the Neotropical caviomorph rodent Thrichomys apereoides (Rodentia: Echimyidae)
• Esqueletogênese em punaré (Thrichomys laurentinus- Rodentia, Echimyidae)
• Potential distribution and new records of Trinomys species (Rodentia: Echimyidae) in the state of Rio de Janeiro