{"id":2952,"date":"2017-08-29T08:16:02","date_gmt":"2017-08-29T08:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/document\/identifying-single-housed-animals-sop\/"},"modified":"2025-02-17T15:44:47","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T15:44:47","slug":"identifying-single-housed-animals-sop","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/sops\/identifying-single-housed-animals-sop\/","title":{"rendered":"Identifying Single Housed Animals SOP"},"template":"","categories":[5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19],"tags":[],"content-type":[30],"topic":[20],"update-type":[],"class_list":["post-2952","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","category-cats","category-chickens-avian","category-cows","category-dogs","category-ferrets","category-fish-amphibians-and-reptiles","category-guinea-pigs","category-hamsters","category-mice","category-other-rodents","category-primates","category-rabbits","category-rats","category-sheep","category-swine","content-type-sops","topic-husbandry"],"acf":{"use_legacy_editor":true,"updated_date":"2025-08-22 00:00:00","update_notice":true,"author":"Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine","summary":"To describe the procedures for classifying animals that are single housed and labeling cages appropriately. All single housed animals on campus must be identified with the reason they are housed singly.","button_links":null,"related_content":[2892,2897,2948,2949],"legacy_path":"identifying-single-housed-animals-sop","legacy_node_id":100,"legacy_related_nids":"37, 42, 96, 97","legacy_content_section":[{"legacy_section_type":"heading","legacy_heading":"Responsibility","legacy_subheading":"","legacy_section_text":"","legacy_media_position":"","legacy_media_file":"","legacy_media_url":"","legacy_glossary_term":"","legacy_glossary_nids":"","legacy_resource":"","legacy_resource_nids":"","legacy_buttons":null},{"legacy_section_type":"text_area","legacy_heading":"","legacy_subheading":"","legacy_section_text":"<ol style=\"list-style-type: decimal\" start=\"1\">\r\n \t<li><strong>Husbandry Personnel<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Veterinary Personnel<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Investigative Personnel<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","legacy_media_position":"","legacy_media_file":"","legacy_media_url":"","legacy_glossary_term":"","legacy_glossary_nids":"","legacy_resource":"","legacy_resource_nids":"","legacy_buttons":null},{"legacy_section_type":"heading","legacy_heading":"Glossary Definitions","legacy_subheading":"","legacy_section_text":"","legacy_media_position":"","legacy_media_file":"","legacy_media_url":"","legacy_glossary_term":"","legacy_glossary_nids":"","legacy_resource":"","legacy_resource_nids":"","legacy_buttons":null},{"legacy_section_type":"glossary_terms","legacy_heading":"","legacy_subheading":"","legacy_section_text":"","legacy_media_position":"","legacy_media_file":"","legacy_media_url":"","legacy_glossary_term":[2395,2686],"legacy_glossary_nids":"1062, 1367","legacy_resource":"","legacy_resource_nids":"","legacy_buttons":null},{"legacy_section_type":"heading","legacy_heading":"Procedures","legacy_subheading":"","legacy_section_text":"","legacy_media_position":"","legacy_media_file":"","legacy_media_url":"","legacy_glossary_term":"","legacy_glossary_nids":"","legacy_resource":"","legacy_resource_nids":"","legacy_buttons":null},{"legacy_section_type":"text_area","legacy_heading":"","legacy_subheading":"","legacy_section_text":"If there is not a laboratory managed procedure for identifying singly housed animals, follow the steps below.","legacy_media_position":"","legacy_media_file":"","legacy_media_url":"","legacy_glossary_term":"","legacy_glossary_nids":"","legacy_resource":"","legacy_resource_nids":"","legacy_buttons":null},{"legacy_section_type":"text_area_with_subheading","legacy_heading":"","legacy_subheading":"1. Classifying Single Housed Animals","legacy_section_text":"<ol style=\"list-style-type: lower-alpha\" start=\"1\">\r\n \t<li>Identify single housed animals using one of the following exemption codes:\r\n<ol style=\"list-style-type: lower-roman\" start=\"1\">\r\n \t<li><strong>A = Attrition:<\/strong>\u00a0Animal is now single housed due to lack of suitable littermate, death, weaning, separation, or new arrivals shipped separately.\r\n<ol style=\"list-style-type: decimal\" start=\"1\">\r\n \t<li>Personnel may contact veterinary personnel if pairing or group housing animals is desired following attrition.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>F = Fighting:<\/strong>\u00a0Includes males and females that have been separated due to aggression or demonstrated and documented social incompatibility.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>P = Protocol Specific Reasons:<\/strong>\u00a0Animals must be individually housed due to approved scientific and\/or protocol specific reasons.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>V = Veterinary Treatment:<\/strong>\u00a0Animals must be individually housed due to ongoing veterinary treatments.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>B = Breeding<\/strong>: Animal must be individually housed either because it is a stud male that will fight with other males and is not currently being bred to a female or because it is a pregnant female removed from its home cages to prevent overcrowding resulting from multiple litters in a cage.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","legacy_media_position":"","legacy_media_file":"","legacy_media_url":"","legacy_glossary_term":"","legacy_glossary_nids":"","legacy_resource":"","legacy_resource_nids":"","legacy_buttons":null},{"legacy_section_type":"text_area_with_subheading","legacy_heading":"","legacy_subheading":"2. Labeling Cage Cards Containing Single Housed Animals","legacy_section_text":"<ol style=\"list-style-type: lower-alpha\">\r\n \t<li>Any personnel creating a single housed animal:\r\n<ol style=\"list-style-type: lower-roman\">\r\n \t<li>Affix a blue plastic Post-It<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> Filing Tab denoting the date and appropriate exemption code letter to top of <a class=\"gtip\" href=\"\/animalcare\/glossary\/cage-card\">cage card<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Affix a blue plastic Post-It<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> Filing Tab denoting the date and appropriate exemption code letter to a yellow acetate and place on the back of the animal room door for groups of animals that are single housed with the same exemption code.\r\n<ol style=\"list-style-type: decimal\" start=\"1\">\r\n \t<li>Ensure acetate contains clarifying information of what cages the exemption code and date pertain to (e.g., all male rats for PI \u2018X\u2019 or all cages on rack \u2018X\u2019).<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Husbandry personnel upon finding a single housed animal with no accompanying exemption code:\r\n<ol style=\"list-style-type: lower-roman\" start=\"1\">\r\n \t<li>Place a blue <a class=\"gtip\" href=\"\/animalcare\/glossary\/acetate\">acetate<\/a> vertically behind the cage card denoting the date.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Affix a blank blue plastic Post-It<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> Filing Tab to the top of the cage card.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Investigative personnel record the date and correct exemption code on the blank blue plastic Post-It<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> Filing Tab that was placed by the husbandry personnel.\r\n<ol style=\"list-style-type: lower-roman\">\r\n \t<li>Husbandry personnel e-mail the investigative personnel if the cage has not been labeled appropriately within 7 days, include the following information in the email:\r\n<ol style=\"list-style-type: decimal\" start=\"1\">\r\n \t<li><a class=\"gtip\" href=\"\/animalcare\/glossary\/principal-investigator-pi\">Principal Investigator<\/a> (PI)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Room location<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Rack and space location<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Laboratory contact<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Copy the building supervisor on the e-mail\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Husbandry personnel record the date the investigative personnel was contacted on the vertical blue acetate.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Tech time is charged for e-mails to investigator personnel<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Husbandry personnel re-report the cage to the Husbandry Supervisors if not appropriately labeled after an additional 7 days from the date laboratory was first contacted.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Husbandry supervisor reports the laboratory to the facility Faculty Veterinarian for follow-up.\r\n<ol style=\"list-style-type: decimal\" start=\"1\">\r\n \t<li>The facility Faculty Veterinarian determines if the concern is reported to the <a class=\"gtip\" href=\"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/glossary\/institutional-animal-care-use-committee-iacuc\/\">IACUC<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Remove the vertical blue acetate when the blue plastic Post-It<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> Filing Tab has the appropriate documentation.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Remove the blue plastic Post-It<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> Filing Tab if the animal is no longer single housed.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","legacy_media_position":"","legacy_media_file":"","legacy_media_url":"","legacy_glossary_term":"","legacy_glossary_nids":"","legacy_resource":"","legacy_resource_nids":"","legacy_buttons":null},{"legacy_section_type":"text_area_with_subheading","legacy_heading":"","legacy_subheading":"3. Enrichment","legacy_section_text":"<ol style=\"list-style-type: lower-alpha\">\r\n \t<li>Provide single housed animals with at least two <a class=\"gtip\" href=\"\/animalcare\/glossary\/enrichment\">enrichment<\/a> items.\r\n<ol style=\"list-style-type: lower-roman\" start=\"1\">\r\n \t<li>Place the additional enrichment item(s) at the next cage change from when the mammal was noted to be single housed.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Recode the additional enrichment item(s) on the <a class=\"gtip\" href=\"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/glossary\/animal-room-log-e-g-room-sheet\/\">Animal Room Log Sheet<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>See <strong><em><a href=\"\/animalcare\/sops\/environmental-enrichment-animals-sop\">Environmental Enrichment for Animals SOP<\/a> <\/em><\/strong>for details.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","legacy_media_position":"","legacy_media_file":"","legacy_media_url":"","legacy_glossary_term":"","legacy_glossary_nids":"","legacy_resource":"","legacy_resource_nids":"","legacy_buttons":null},{"legacy_section_type":"heading","legacy_heading":"Appendix A: Additional Enrichment Signage","legacy_subheading":"","legacy_section_text":"","legacy_media_position":"","legacy_media_file":"","legacy_media_url":"","legacy_glossary_term":"","legacy_glossary_nids":"","legacy_resource":"","legacy_resource_nids":"","legacy_buttons":null},{"legacy_section_type":"link_button","legacy_heading":"","legacy_subheading":"","legacy_section_text":"","legacy_media_position":"media-full","legacy_media_file":3155,"legacy_media_url":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/media\/embedded\/Single%20Housed%20Animal%20Additional%20Enrichment%20Signage.pdf","legacy_glossary_term":"","legacy_glossary_nids":"","legacy_resource":"","legacy_resource_nids":"","legacy_buttons":[{"legacy_button":{"title":"Single-Housed Animal Additional Enrichment Signage","url":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Single-Housed-Animal-Additional-Enrichment-Signage.pdf","target":""},"legacy_import_link":true}]}],"update_notice_type":[56,53,52,51],"update_notice_start":"2025-08-25 00:00:00","update_notice_end":"2025-11-24 00:00:00","update_notice_text_blocks":[{"update_notice_text":"<h3><span style=\"color: #2f65a7\"><strong>Summary of Changes<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\nSection 2: Updated the information for contacting investigative personnel to identify exemption code to reflect common practice (in 2.c)"},{"update_notice_text":"<h3><span style=\"color: #2f65a7\"><strong>Who is Impacted<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\n1. Husbandry Personnel\r\n2. Veterinary Personnel\r\n3. Investigative Personnel"},{"update_notice_text":"<h3><span style=\"color: #2f65a7\"><strong>Impact<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\nReview of updated information as it is relevant to your duties."}],"global_contact_block":false,"contact_name":"","contact_email":"","contact_additional_info":"If you have questions or comments about this document, contact <strong>ULAM Veterinary Staff<\/strong> (email <strong><a href=\"mailto:ULAM-vets@umich.edu\">ULAM-vets@umich.edu<\/a><\/strong>).","global_contact_block_select":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/2952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/2952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5088,"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/2952\/revisions\/5088"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"update-type","href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/update-type\/51"},{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"update-type","href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/update-type\/52"},{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"update-type","href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/update-type\/53"},{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"update-type","href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/update-type\/56"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/2949"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/2948"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/2897"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/2892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2952"},{"taxonomy":"content-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-type?post=2952"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=2952"},{"taxonomy":"update-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/az.research.umich.edu\/animalcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/update-type?post=2952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}