Documents the process of modifying Tecniplast cage lids to better suit rats with electrophysiology implants.
Designed at HHMI's Janelia research campus by the jET team, the modifications allow more space inside the home cage for rats with head mounted electrophysiology implants. The cages as purchased position the water bottle spouts too low in areas of the cage where there is not enough space for the rats to comfortably drink.
Advantages: More space for the rat to comfortably move around the cage.
Construction: The cage modifications include cutting out the original bottle holder sections of the lid, and installing several machined, and sheetmetal parts that are riveted to the cage and sealed with epoxy.
See the individual part drawings for more detail on fabricating each part. See the attached assembly files and instructions with parts list including purchased commercial items needed to complete the tcage modifications. There are two designs documented in this repo: the V1 rat cage lid modifications from 2018, and the V2 modifications implemented in 2021. The V1 changes are simpler and require fewer custom parts. However, the V1 water bottle holders do not last as long under autoclave sterilization as the V2 version.
Operation: The cage can be used normally after modification, cleaned, and sterilized via autoclave.
Opportunity: Free to make for Non-Profit Research by downloading the design here. See included hardware license.
Rights and designs available for Commercial License. Janelia makes no endorsements or guarantees of licensee products.
For inquiries, please contact [email protected] and reference this repository.
To cite the designs, please use DOI: https://doi.org/10.25378/janelia.25750719