Colony Management

Owner: Kelly

Mice Log and Availability

The “Mice log” and “Mice available” tabs are for all lab members.

  1. Check the “Mice available” tab for available mice — no note in “Claim” means available. Double-check genotypes yourself (gel images are in the LabArx genotyping folder; find the page via the “Date of LabArx Page” column in the colony sheet’s “genotyping” tab).
  2. Claim mice by noting so in the “Claim” column.
  3. After mice are sacrificed: log in “Mice log,” delete from “Mice available,” and delete from the individual mating tabs (the only time you edit those tabs).

Genotyping

The “Genotyping” tab is for Kelly, Cass, and Rachel.

Kelly/Rachel:

  1. Tail-snip pups ~14 days old → box in the 4°C fridge with the date on the tubes.
  2. Fill in the colony sheet’s “genotyping” tab: Exp Category, Mating CC, Genotype, DOB pups, Tag#/Sex, Parents.
  3. In LabArx’s “genotyping” folder, create a page titled [date] - needs to be genotyped with entries formatted like: CC[cage#] M[tag#] [genotype] (DOB [date]) x F[tag#] [genotype] (DOB [date]), litter DOB: [date]. Record the LabArx page date in the colony sheet.
  4. Notify the colony management Slack channel that tail snips were submitted.

Cass:

  1. Run gels → image → annotate ladder and mouse IDs.
  2. Upload gel images to LabArx, remove “- needs to be genotyped” from the page title.
  3. Write genotype results into the colony sheet.
  4. Highlight genotyped mouse IDs.
  5. Notify the Slack channel that results are uploaded.

Kelly/Rachel:

  1. Write genotype results into individual mating tabs.
  2. Wean pups at ~21 days, record cage card info in individual mating tabs.

Mating

Individual mating tabs and the “Matings” tab are for Kelly to update; other members only delete sacrificed mice from mating tabs.

  1. Monitor mating cages for pregnant females, separate them, update the CC# column.
  2. When a litter drops: notify Slack, update the mating tab with litter DOB, weaning date, litter age, and the “All litters dropped” column.
  3. At ~14 days: tail-snip and ear-tag, record tag IDs in the mating tab and “genotyping” tab.
  4. Order cage cards ≥2 business days before weaning.
  5. At ~21 days: wean, add to “Mice available” with relevant info. Once breeders retire, copy their info from the individual mating tab to the “Matings log” tab.