Our contracts are designed to safeguard investigators' intellectual property (IP) by ensuring that all proprietary information, research data, and innovative concepts shared with Tufts CMS remain strictly confidential. By establishing clear legal protections, our contracts provide peace of mind, allowing investigators to focus on advancing their research without concerns about unauthorized disclosure or use of their valuable IP. Tufts holds no claim to any IP except for things we create, like tracking forms or instructions, or special techniques we develop in order to perform a study.

Virtual or in person meeting, study design, we will provide estimate, signed contract, protocol writeup, submit protocol to IACUC, approved IACUC protocol.

Once a contract is signed and we understand the scope of your project, we can better provide an estimated timeline through the IACUC process to booking a date.

Reach out and contact us today to set up an initial consultation and we will begin the process of generating your study estimate.

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Did you know that you need to deactivate cage cards when you have a cage or animal that is no longer in use? By removing the strip at the bottom of the cage card and writing the date of deactivation, this helps ensure that you are billed for the correct amount of per diems. 

When you transfer animals to a different protocol or account number, any unused cage cards need to be recycled or thrown away. Please make sure all unused cage cards in your animal's housing room or your lab are disposed of as our billing software can only update cage cards in use. 

To prevent any delays in your animal order, please make sure to check the following:

1. That the protocol listed on the order is active
2. That there are sufficient animals available under the protocol to fulfill your order. It is recommended that you keep track of your numbers, however, you may contact the IACUC for updated numbers

If you are planning to use a species other than mice or rats in a study, please reach out to our husbandry team at tuftscms-husbandry@tufts.edu, or one of our veterinarians to ensure that we have the space, correct housing, and food available. This will decrease any delays in animal arrival and the start of your study.

When ordering animals, please send your orders to TuftsCMS-ordering@tufts.edu. Be advised that the deadlines for receiving and processing Animal Purchase Request Forms are as follows: 

• Monday 12:00pm for deliveries on the following Thursday
• Thursday 12:00pm for deliveries on the following Tuesday

If you have any changes in your account number, please include these in your animal order. All orders need to be emailed to TuftsCMS-ordering@tufts.edu, which will allow us to update the billing system.  Please do not place stickers with account number changes on the cage cards without communication with CMS, as this will not update the barcodes on the cage cards in our system.

Please submit any swine order at least 3 weeks in advance. Our preferred vendor may not be able to accommodate the request and alternative approved vendors will need to be contacted, which requires additional timing for processing and shipping. As a reminder, all animal orders should be sent to tuftscms-ordering@tufts.edu. 

Please make sure to check that the cage cards you are activating have the correct room number on them. If not, please dispose of the cards and request new ones. Manual cage cards with the wrong room number will be activated as the room listed on the cage card, therefore a charge to that room will show on your invoice if it is incorrect.

If your lab returns the Activation/Deactivation tab without documenting the correct date, you might get charge the estimate maximum date. To prevent any discrepancies, please write the date on each tab before returning them to the sleeve bag. This will help us maintain accurate records and ensure a smooth billing process.

Many routine histology requests will be complete within a week depending on the number of submissions that we are currently working on.  Decalcification, ordering special stains, fixation times, and processing schedules can all increase turnaround times on submission requests.  You may contact the Animal Histology Core at any time for a status update on your submission. Accessions are processed in the order received.

Of course, this will vary by project, but the majority of tissues can be fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin (NBF). Paraformaldehyde is not needed for most routine histology and is an added cost and effort to make up. When using 10% NBF, aim for a fixative to tissue volume of 20:1. For eye histology, you may wish to consider Davidson’s fixative. Mouse embryos are often best fixed with Bouin's solution.

Tissue in 10% neutral buffered formalin (NBF) or paraformaldehyde should be fixed for 24 to 48 hours.  Tissue can remain in NBF indefinitely.  Glutaraldehyde should not be used in fixation for long periods of time.  2-4 hours of fixation is routine for glutaraldehyde.  Tissues in Bouin’s fixative should be transferred to 70% alcohol after <24 hours of fixation.

The final slide product is a combination of many factors, including collection, fixation, trimming, processing, embedding, sectioning, staining, and coverslipping. Variables introduced into any of these steps from start to finish, in your hands or in ours, can result in slides that look different than others, have artifacts, or have a poor final result. The AHC strives to provide quality slides at all times. When we encounter tissues that aren’t sectioning well, the histologists use their years of experience to assess possible reasons for this and to try to work around the issue. Histology textbooks provide descriptions and examples of common quality issues, and it is usually not difficult to pinpoint the cause. Two of the most common issues we see in our laboratory are inadequate fixation and frozen tissue artifacts. If you have a slide or slides that did not turn out as you expected, please bring them to the attention of the histologist or to Lauren Richey as soon as possible. The pathologist routinely performs quality assessment of a subset of routine and special slides produced as well as all immunohistochemistry slides. If the error is on our part, we will try our best to correct it for you at no additional charge. If the trouble seems to be in collection, inadequate fixation, or other step prior to submission to our lab, we will prepare an example slide of tissue that we collect and give you a collection protocol for optimal slide production in the future.

Only the cryostat may be used by investigators.  All other equipment may only be operated by AHC personnel.  If special processing cycles or procedures are required for your submission, we can accommodate them to the best of our abilities.

Tufts CMS routinely tests for and excludes certain infectious agents from mouse and rat colonies. A list of excluded agents in mice and rats can be found on the CMS website. Tests are performed by external diagnostic laboratories by PCR for viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Contact TuftsCMS-pathology@tufts.edu for additional information or to request health surveillance data on a particular housing room. Please note that all health surveillance data for export of rodents to another institution should be sent by the CMS export coordinator, TuftsCMS-exports@tufts.edu, and can be initiated by completing this online form. 

For generation of transgenic mice or gene targeted mice, cryopreservation, embryo transplantation, or rederivation, CMS recommends the Mouse Transgenic Core Facility at Maine Health Institute for Research (MHIR). MHIR is a CMS approved vendor. Both Tufts and TMC have master agreements with MHIR for transgenic services. Other CMS approved vendors include Jackson Laboratories, Charles River, Taconic, Genoway, MMCRI, MMRRC, and the UCDavis Mouse Biology Program (MBP). Mice created at a source that is not a CMS approved vendor enter the CMS facilities through standard quarantine, while mice created at approved vendors do not require quarantine, subject to health report review. 

Rodent cell lines and other research biologics of rodent origin that are used in laboratory animals should be tested for pathogens before use.  Untested biologics can lead to disease outbreaks, illness in animals, loss of research data, delayed timelines, and expensive eradication costs. Samples should be submitted for testing at least 2 weeks prior to planned use. Please contact TuftsCMS-pathology@tufts.edu to obtain a testing kit or for more information.

For assistance with animal hematology (CBC’s), serum chemistries, or other clinical pathology samples, reach out to the CMS Veterinary Pathologist, Dr. Lauren Richey at lauren.richey@tufts.edu for help with test selection, free tubes, volumes needed, and collection advice.

1. IACUC approval, if necessary. In vivo preclinical studies will require approval from the Tufts Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). The Preclinical Imaging Core has templates for each instrument that you can use in your protocol or amendment. Please reach out to TuftsCMS-PIC@tufts.edu for more details on where to find these.
2. Instrument training. Before operating any of the instruments independently, you must be trained by a member of the Preclinical Imaging Core. Email TuftsCMS-PIC@tufts.edu to schedule a training session. 
3. Vivarium and Room access. After finishing training, our team will help you get key card access to the relevant rooms.
    

Assisted means that a member of the Preclinical Imaging Core will image for you. All instruments are available for assisted imaging. Scheduling is made based on availability. 

Unassisted means you can perform the imaging yourself after completing the necessary training.  All instruments are available for unassisted imaging. 

We use iLab for all our instrument scheduling. Reservations can be made up to 3 months in advance.  You can find our iLab scheduler HERE. For more information for registering and using iLab, please reference the guides below:

• iLab registration
• iLab equipment reservation

We have developed resources and offer various trainings for instrument operation and data analysis consulting to help make imaging more accessible for everyone. Reach out to us at TuftsCMS-PIC@tufts.edu to learn more.

We are happy to consult with you to help you optimize your research.

Reach out to us at TuftsCMS-PIC@tufts.edu and we can consult with you to see if there are analysis methods to solve the problem, or we can reschedule imaging time so you can get the data you need.

The location of your breeding cages can greatly impact the success rate of your breeders. Breeders housed on the bottom of a rack experience less light, less vibrations from the blowers on the racks, and less movement during cage change as the top of the rack tends to move when cages are being pulled off. You may see an increase in production after moving your picky breeders to the bottom of the rack.

Did you know that you can communicate what type of caging you want your animals housed in on the day they arrive?  Simply put your request in the “special housing requirements” portion on the animal order form.  If there are any questions, you will be contacted for clarification. 

Are you looking for a recent animal order?  The location can be found in the animal facility, either on the clipboard on the housing room door or on the clipboard on the rodent procedure room door.  Pages are kept with most recent arrivals on top. 

If you need special caging or a large number of caging supplies, please complete our online form to ensure they are ready when you need them. There are QR codes for the link by PPE stations in the facility or it can be found online here. 

If the use of a high hazard chemical has been approved in your protocol, you must also register the high hazard chemical with EH&S.  Registration includes attending a high hazard chemical hands-on training before the chemical is used. For more information, please visit the Laboratory Safety website. 

 When ordering a species not currently housed within the CMS animal facilities, please expect several weeks lead time before the animals arrive. CMS Husbandry will need time to order and receive proper food and supplies for the care and housing of these animals. You will be informed of the expected arrival date. 

 If the last animal in the cage dies, the death is noted on the room log on the outside of the holding room door, the card is deactivated, the empty cage is removed, and the carcass is placed in the carcass refrigerator.  It is placed in the bin corresponding to the day of the week it was found dead.  It will be held there for 3 days for investigative staff to collect tissues or perform a necropsy.  On the 4th day, the carcass will be placed in the general collection bin in the freezer.  The cage card will be filed in the card file. If cages are missing and the above does not apply, please contact a CMS staff member. 

If investigative staff wish to perform the husbandry tasks themselves for specific cages, a “Husbandry by Investigator” card can be placed on the cage.  Be sure to transfer the animals to a new cage and then place the completely filled out card on each cage the procedure applies to.  At the end of the time frame, place the animals in a new cage and remove the “Husbandry by Investigator” card.  CMS will change the cage when the room is next scheduled to be changed.  Please remember to discard the “Husbandry by Investigator” card to prevent future confusion. 

CMS has some storage cabinets and drawers in most of the procedure rooms within the animal facility, where most are lockable. They are assigned on a “first come, first served basis” and one key per lab will be given. Needles and other medical supplies need to be locked up and cannot be stored on the supply shelves within the animal housing rooms. Contact tuftscms-husbandry@tufts.edu for more information.

CMS’ standard practice is to provide rodents with filtered, acidified water (pH 2.8-3.2). If non acidified water is needed, please complete a special husbandry request form.

If the lab wishes to put an additive in the water, CMS can provide water (acidified or filtered tap water) and red bottles. These red bottle alert CMS that there is special water in the cages. When using special water, including filtered tap water, please complete and hang a pink “special water” card on each cage card to receive the special water. 

CMS has a few standard diets-regular food, breeder food (higher fat content), irradiated regular food, and irradiated breeder food. No action is needed on investigative staff part if regular food is called for. If breeder food is wanted, a pink “special husbandry” card should be completed and hung on each cage to receive the special diet. If a change of diet is needed for an established cage, the person requesting the change is responsible to dump the current food and supply the new food to the cage(s) to ensure the transition to the new food.  

Any questions can be directed to tuftscms-husbandry@tufts.edu.

Providing thermoregulatory support to animals under anesthesia is a regulatory requirement! Thermoregulatory support should also be provided to those animals recovering from anesthesia, blood draws, or other procedures. In addition, warming animals up after being in a flooded cage is a must!  There are many thermoregulatory devices on the market. You can find approved Tufts CMS-approved devices in our Tufts CMS Policy on Thermoregulatory Devices for Rodents document. If you are using a heat lamp in the animal facility, please ensure that you do not place them too close to the lamp, each lamp has colored zipties and signs to provide guidance on the distance to keep cages from the bulb. Please feel free to contact your Veterinary Service technicians with any questions about thermoregulation.

One of the best ways to assess the overall health and condition of animals is to assess their body condition score or BCS. This score is a measure of body fat and how well muscled an animal is and is correlated with, but a separate measure than, body weight. BCS is especially helpful for those studies where tumors or implants may artificially inflate the animal body weight, making appetite more difficult to assess. CMS partnered with the lab animal veterinary staff in Grafton to develop the “Guidelines for Body Condition Scoring of Animals” These guidelines have been endorsed by the IACUC. A BCS less than 2 is very likely one of the humane euthanasia endpoints in your IACUC protocol. 

When working with your mouse colonies, please be mindful of the IACUC Policies for Rodent Cage Populations, which are based on federal regulations. When CMS finds cages with too many mice (overcrowded) in a cage, we follow our CMS Policy Rodent Overcrowded Cage Separations By Tufts CMS/LAMS/CBU Staff. This provides a one-week deadline to address an overcrowded cage, otherwise it will result in cage separation fees to address the non-compliance. Please make sure to check your colony at least once a week to prevent non-compliance.

If you see a sick rodent, or are not sure if a rodent is sick, please notify CMS in a timely fashion so that we can evaluate the animal. If you see animal that needs IMMEDIATE ATTENTION, i.e. it is showing evidence of pain and/or suffering, PLEASE do the following:

1. Contact a CMS Veterinary Technician or Veterinarian immediately in person or at 617-636-2674
2. If there is no answer at the Veterinary Service office, call the CMS main office at 617-636-5611 and inform the CMS staff member that you are reporting an "animal emergency" and request that a veterinary technician or veterinarian be contacted immediately.
3. Euthanize the animal, if appropriate. Do NOT place the animal on the euthanasia rack.
4. If during the weekend/holiday or off-hours, please call Tufts Police at 617-636-6610 to notify the Veterinarian On Call.

You can find more information in our Guidelines for Rodent Health Checks by Investigative Staff.

Isoflurane is a safe, reliable, and effective anesthetic for animals. CMS offers two types of isoflurane machines (please click on the machine type for linked SOP) for common use in all animal procedure rooms in CMS facilities; benchtop (countertop) and mobile anesthesia. CMS provides isoflurane and annual certification for each machine, and to simplify operations and costs, investigators must track their usage by using the log pictured below, which is posted in the rooms. These machines may be used to anesthetize animals that are part of an IACUC protocol that has its use approved. CMS also offers training for these machines, which may be found with all CMS training offerings here.

Investigators wishing to perform their own cage husbandry and maintenance (ie. during breeding, chemical hazard use, etc.) are required to document when they provide fresh caging, food, and water. Upon placement of “Husbandry by Investigative Staff Cage Cards,” investigators assume ALL responsibilities of changing the cage at the appropriate interval, as described on the cage card. When first placing a card OR when removing a card, a complete cage change must be performed. You can find more information in the Guidelines for CMS Rodent Husbandry Provided by Investigative Staff. 

When publishing animal studies, reporting animal housing, diet, and disease status enables readers and reviewers to scrutinize the research adequately, evaluate its methodological rigor, and reproduce the methods or findings. Please refer to our CMS handout on animal husbandry information for publication. For the full list of ARRIVE guidelines you can go here.  

Sometimes determining maximum approved injection volumes can be difficult when writing your IACUC protocol.  Here is a guideline of the maximum allowable volumes you can inject for mammals based on route of injection: 

Sometimes determining maximum approved injection volumes can be difficult when writing your IACUC protocol.  Here is a guideline of the maximum allowable volumes you can inject for mammals based on route of injection: 

Subcutaneous:     5ml/kg 
Oral Gavage:       5-20ml/kg 
Intraperitoneal:    10ml/kg 
Intramuscular:      0.5ml/kg per site 
Intravenous:         5ml/kg 
Intradermal:         0.5-0.1ml per site 
Intradermal:         0.5-0.1ml per site 

Mice are the most common animal model for a variety of reasons including small size (facilitating housing and maintenance); short reproductive cycle and lifespan; generally mild-tempered and docile; wealth of information regarding their anatomy, genetics, biology, and physiology; and the possibility for breeding genetically manipulated mice and mice that have spontaneous mutations.