Animal and husbandry
In total, 14 female mice participated in the study (7 C57BL/6Jrj and 7 Swiss Albino mice). The mice were housed in mixed strains with a social partner in a standard cage with mouse pellets, a water bottle, wood chip bedding, paper nesting materials and a paper tube.
Assessing the use of foraging enrichments
Foraging enrichment with white chocolate and millet seeds inside as rewards, was placed in the mice’s home cage and the interaction dynamics were video recorded for 6 hours during the dark period and analysed afterwards. In total, eight different foraging enrichments were tested.
Behavioural observations
The behaviours of the mice were video recorded for 6 hours during the dark period in their home cage and analysed afterwards with an ethogram.
Open field test
Each mouse was placed in an open field arena for 10 minutes, and the locomotory parameters of the mouse were recorded and analysed with EthoVision.
