Aged Rodent Colonies Handbook

The NIA has animal colonies with multiple contractors now so customers should take care that the purchase order is made out to the correct contractor. Orders for animals from different contractors must be submitted separately. The location of the colonies is as follows:

• Aged mouse colony – Charles River Laboratories - old and new colonies are with CRL but animals from the two colonies must be ordered separately - follow instructions on the strain ordering pages of the ROS to prevent delays to orders
• Hybrid rat/BN rat colony – Harlan **See note below - the BN rats will transition to the new rat contract at Charles River Laboratories before the hybrid rats will transition – BN rats with dates of birth after October 2012 will come from Charles River; hybrid rats born 6/13 and after ship from Charles River.
• Caloric restricted rodent colony – Charles River Laboratories
• F344 rat colony – As of May 20, 2013, all F344 rats ship from Charles River Laboratories

Notice: Change in F344 foundation stock. (MS Word, 33K)

** The new rat colony is at Charles River Laboratories (CRL). Because of delays in the development of the F344 breeding colony, the Brown Norway (BN) rats will transition to the new colony at CRL before the F344 rats transition. BN rats with dates of birth (DOB) through 10/12 will be shipped from Harlan, those with DOBs after 10/12 will be shipped from CRL and must be on separate orders from the older BN rats. Hybrid rats with DOB through 5/13 will ship from Harlan until the transfer, and DOBs of 6/13 and after ship from CRL. Up-to-date instructions will be provided on the strain ordering pages of the online rodent ordering system.

Please note, at the end of the Harlan (hybrid and BN rats) and Taconic (F344) contracts, the rats remaining will be transferred to CRL (dates not yet determined). During the period when the older rats are still at Taconic or Harlan, orders for young and old rats from different contracts must be placed separately. After the rats are transferred to CRL, orders for old and young rats can be submitted on the same order. Please pay close attention to the instructions on the individual strain ordering pages of the online order form.