SMALL ANIMAL BREEDING DEVICE AND SMALL ANIMAL BREEDING METHOD

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small animal breeding device and a small animal breeding method capable of efficiently creating a model animal suitable for research on a chronic stressful sleep disorder.SOLUTION: A small animal breeding device includes a rotation wheel 26 in which a small animal is confined, and a support member for pivotally supporting a shaft part 34 of the rotation wheel 26 sideways, and is provided with a running wheel 14 in which the rotation wheel 26 freely rotates when the small animal walks along the inside of the peripheral surface 32 of the rotation wheel 26. The small animal breeding device includes a driving device 18 provided with a motor 18a for causing the rotation wheel 26 to rotate and an electromagnetic clutch 18b for attaching/detaching the motor 18a to/from the shaft part 34 of the rotation wheel 26. The small animal breeding device includes a sensor 20 for detecting the rotation of the rotation wheel 26. The driving device 18 detaches the motor 18a from the rotation wheel 26, analyzes an output signal of the sensor 20, connects the motor 18a to the rotation wheel 26, causing it to rotate in a prescribed pattern when the small animal is determined to be asleep, and awakens the small animal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1