Food Intake

BioDAQ food intake monitoring system measures the episodic ad libitum feeding activity of singly housed lab animals in their home cage.

Species:

Laboratory Rats and Mice- All strains react differently to a new environment. It is recommended that the animals be acclimated for up to 7 days.

Food Type:

Pelleted lab animal diets- The BioDAQ hoppers will accommodate most pelleted lab animal diets. Research Diets standard size 1/2 in. pelleted purified diets and grain based products form other manufacturers are compatible.

Measurements:

ad libitum food intake-

• Manual periodic measurements with BioDAQ Unplugged
• Electronic episodic measurements with BioDAQ E2
• Automated gate capability with BioDAQ E3 allows for restriction by time or amount.

Housing:

One(1) animal per home cage-(32) per system- Specially modified plastic shoe box style home cages reduce stress on the animal. The cages provide a suitable environment for long term studies and shorten the acclimation period. Gated hoppers mount outside the cage limiting variability caused by the interaction between researchers and animals. 

Hardware:

Perimeter mounted hoppers with integrated spill tray- Mounting hoppers outside the cage prevents food from falling into bedding. All crumbs are captured in the BioDAQ integrated hopper tray. 

Electronics:

Load cell technology- BioDAQ peripheral sensor controller (PSC) measures weight once per second recording the changes in stable weight. The system captures the date, time and duration of individual feeding and drinking events or ‘bouts’ to a resolution of 0.02g.

Software:

BioDAQ DataViewer- The DataViewer allows users to define and manipulate meal criteria such as the inter-bout interval or minimum meal requirement. The complete data set is analyzed in a matter of seconds. All of the raw bout data and the analysis tables can be exported to an Excel spreadsheet with the click of a button.

Applications:
Food Intake
Liquid Intake
Food and Liquid Intake
Food Choice
Liquid Choice
Place Preference
Taste Preference
Intermittent Access

Options:
Cages
Hardware
Software
Electronics
Racks

BioDAQ Unplugged food intake rat cage

BioDAQ E2 food intake mouse cage