Laboratory mice are typically housed in “shoebox" cages that limit the expression of natural behaviours. Temporary access to more complex environments (playpens) may improve their welfare. We aimed to assess if access to playpens is rewarding for conventionally-housed mice and to document mouse behaviour during playpen access. Female C57BL/6J, BALB/cJ, and DBA/2J mice were provided temporary access to a large enriched playpen three times per week; control mice remained in their home cages. We measured latency to enter playpens and anticipatory behaviour to determine if access was rewarding, and recorded mouse behaviour during playpen sessions. Over time, playpen mice entered the playpen more quickly; latency declined from 168 ± 22 to 13 ± 2 s over the 14-d trial. As expected, playpen mice showed an increase in anticipatory behaviour before playpen access (mean ± SE = 19.7 ± 2.6 behavioural transitions), while control mice showed no change in anticipatory behaviour relative to baseline values (2.4 ± 1.6 transitions). Mice in the playpen performed more ambulatory behaviours than control mice who remained in home cages (21.5 ± 0.7 vs 6.9 ± 1.1 observations of 25 total observations). We conclude that conventionally-housed mice find voluntary playpen access rewarding, and suggest this as a useful option for providing laboratory mice with access to more complex environments.

游戏围栏小鼠在进入游戏围栏之前表现出预期行为的增加（平均值 ± SE = 19.7 ± 2.6 行为转变），而对照小鼠表现出相对于基线值（2.4 ± 1.6 次转变）的预期行为没有变化。与留在家中笼子里的对照小鼠相比，婴儿围栏中的小鼠表现出更多的走动行为（21.5 ± 0.7 对 6.9 ± 1.1 次观察，共 25 次观察）。我们得出的结论是，传统饲养的老鼠发现自愿进入游戏围栏是有益的，并建议这是为实验室老鼠提供进入更复杂环境的有用选择。与留在家中笼子里的对照小鼠相比，婴儿围栏中的小鼠表现出更多的走动行为（21.5 ± 0.7 对 6.9 ± 1.1 次观察，共 25 次观察）。我们得出的结论是，传统饲养的老鼠发现自愿进入游戏围栏是有益的，并建议这是为实验室老鼠提供进入更复杂环境的有用选择。与留在家中笼子里的对照小鼠相比，婴儿围栏中的小鼠表现出更多的走动行为（21.5 ± 0.7 对 6.9 ± 1.1 次观察，共 25 次观察）。我们得出的结论是，传统饲养的老鼠发现自愿进入游戏围栏是有益的，并建议这是为实验室老鼠提供进入更复杂环境的有用选择。