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Rodent
Uses of Rodent
As pet
For food
For fur
Biomedical research
Detecting land mines
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Rodent
Order – Rodentia (from the Latin ‘rodere’ – to
‘gnaw’ and ‘dent’ – tooth’)
Characterized by front teeth adapted for gnawing
and cheek teeth adapted for chewing
Largest order of mammals
Rodentia has 30 families, 468 genera &
approximately 4000 species
More than one third of all genera and over one half
of the total species of living mammals are rodents
Rodent
Adapted for running, jumping, climbing, burrownding,
swimming and gliding
Many of them have dexterous forepaws, which they
use as hands while sitting on their haunches in a
position
Three major groups are- Squirrel-like rodents (366
species), Rat / Mouse-like rodents (1183 species),
Porcupine-like rodents (1808 species)
Example: Guinea pig, squirrels, beavers, rats, mice,
hamsters, woodchuck, dormice, porcupines,
chinchillas, capybaras
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Guinea pigs "social groom"
Guinea pigs
Mice
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Rat
Hamster
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Rodent
Some physiological features of certain rodents are
• Continuously growing teeth
• Water-conserving renal mechanism
• Coprophagy
• Hibernation
Some rodents are diurnal. eg. guinea pig
Some rodents are nocturnal. eg. flying squirrels,
beavers
Rodents that hibernate include most terrestrial
squirrels, woodchucks
Rodents that do not hibernate include tree squirrels,
flying squirrels, beavers
Rodent
Characteristic of rodents are the four prominent yellow or
orange incisor teeth
These teeth are used for cutting wood, biting through the
skin of fruit or for defense
Rodents lack canines, and have a space between their
incisors and premolars
Capybara is the largest living rodent, is about 0.5m in height
and over 1.3m in length and weight as much as 66 kg, most
rodents weight less than 100 g
The smallest rodent is the Baluchistan pygmy jerboa, which
averages only 4.4 cm in head and body length, with adult
females weighing only 3.75 g
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Rodent
Rodents have traditionally been regarded as
herbivores, some species that are carnivorous,
frugivorous, granivorous, piscivorous, or
insectivorous. Hence, rodents should be
considered as omnivorous
Guinea pigs require a dietary source of vitamin C
(ascorbic acid) because they lack the enzyme L-
glucono-lactone oxidase and cannot synthesize
vitamin C in the body
Rodent
Life span: 3.5 to 20 years, House mouse and
Norway rat– 3.5 years (Maximum), Guineapig– 7.5
years (Maximum)
Rodents are important in many ecosystems
because they reproduce rapidly, and can function
as food sources for predators, mechanisms for
seed dispersal and as disease vectors
Rodent cost billions of dollars in lost crops each
year, and some are carriers of human diseases
such as bubonic plague, typhus, and Hanta fever
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Coprophagy
Normal and important nutritional or behavioural trait
in most rodents. This practice probably serves two
functions:
• Maintenance of a normal gut flora by
reinoculation of the upper end of the
gastrointestinal tract
• Ingestion of nutrients (especially essential
amino acids, B vitamins and vitamin K) usually
synthesized by microbes in the cecum
Coprophagy
Normal and important nutritional or behavioural trait
in most rodents. This practice probably serves two
functions:
• Maintenance of a normal gut flora by
reinoculation of the upper end of the
gastrointestinal tract
• Ingestion of nutrients (especially essential
amino acids, B vitamins and vitamin K) usually
synthesized by microbes in the cecum
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Antibiotic chemotherapy in Rodents
The use of anti-bacterial medication particularly in the
feed or drinking water, can disrupt the intestinal
microflora and affect the normal gastro-intestinal
physiology
Guinea pigs and hamsters are very sensitive to some
antibiotics
Gram-positive organisms are normally predominant in
the digestive tract of guinea pigs
Antibiotics that significantly reduce the number of gram-
positive organisms in the gut and thereby permit gram-
negative bacteria to overgrow are contraindicated in
guinea pigs
Antibiotic chemotherapy in Rodents
Death usually occurs several days after administration
of the antibiotic as a result of enterocolitis and
diarrhoea, coliform bacteria or the production of
endotoxins or cytotoxins
Penicillin, bacitracin, erythromycin, and
chlortetracycline caused deaths in guinea pigs
In the golden hamster, penicillin, lincomycin,
clindamycin, erythromycin, and tetracycline producing
a fatal enterocolitis
Broad-spectrum antibiotics, sulfonamides, or
sulfonamide-trimethoprim combination used in guinea
pig
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Antibiotics recommended for
rodents
Generic name Dosage Route of
administration
Enrofloxacin 5-10 mg/kg bwt or SC
50-100 mg/litre In drinking
water
Cephalexin 15-25 mg/kg bwt SC
Chloramphenicol 10-50 mg/kg bwt SC or IM
Trimethoprim/ 48-120 mg/kg bwt SC
sulfadiazine
Tylosin 10 mg/kg bwt SC
Parasiticides recommended for
rodents
Generic name Dosage Route of
administration
Ivermectin 200-500 µg/kg bwt Oral or SC
Moxidectin 400 µg/kg bwt Oral
Fenbendazole 20-100 mg/kg bwt sid Oral
Piperazine 2-10 mg/ml water In drinking water
Praziquantel 5-50 mg/kg bwt SC
Niclosamide 100 mg/kg bwt Oral
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Thank
you
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