Structure
Getting started with Tails
Weaned or breeding?
Tails separates colony management in two sections, weaned and breeding.
Your weaned section deals with animals that have been split from their parent cage and are now ‘ready-for-use’.
Your breeding section deals with animals that are reproducing and the litters resulting from that breeding.
Find out more below.
Strain, explained.
In Tails, a strain refers to a collection of animals who share a set of characteristics. As such, it is not a physical entity. This could also be referred to as a lineage, mouse-line, or other. You can create strains whenever you would like to segment a subset of animals into distinct classes or groups and does not necessitate a clear genetic separation.
Specific settings such as weaning periods, age ceiling, and others, will be set at the strain level.
Each strain is associated with a single species.
Cage, explained.
A weaned cage, or simply cage, is a physical entity that holds animals of a single sex.
A cage has a unique identifier. That identifier can be a name, a barcode/QR code, or the coordinates on the location of that cage.
Each cage is associated with a single strain.
Animal/breeder, explained.
The animal can be either weaned, or breeding. Such differentiation will depend on whether the animal is held in a weaned or breeding cage.
In Tails, every animal is individualized.
Breeding, explained.
A breeding cage, or simply breeding, is a physical entity that holds animals of opposite sex and their offsprings.
Breedings are dynamic and complex, Tails will help you organize your tasks to ensure an efficient flow of animals.
A breeding has a unique identifier. That identifier can be a name, a barcode/QR code, or the coordinates on the location of that breeding.
Each breeding is associated with a single strain.
Litter, explained.
A litter is a collection of newly born pups. Litters should remain in the parent cage for a set amount of time (around 3 to 4 weeks of age for mice) until they are ready to be weaned, that is, split by sex and moved to a cage of their own.
Litters can be in one of three stages. Too young (orange), animals should be left alone until they reach the proper weaning age. Ready (green), animals should be separated and moved out of the parent cage. Overdue (red), animals should immediately be moved out as the breeding cage is now overcrowded and inter-breeding may occur.
Once ready to be weaned, click on the New Cage button to easily create a new weaned cage containing the animals.