Breeding and housing laboratory rats and mice in the same room does not affect the growth or reproduction of either species.

Few data exist regarding the effects of long-term housing of rats and mice in the same secondary enclosure. Historical reproductive and growth data were compared for colonies of mice and rats maintained in open-topped cages in either single-species or dual-species barrier rooms. This analysis included reproductive parameters (litter size at birth, litter size at weaning, and pups missing at weaning) collected from 33 colonies of mice comprising 500 to 38,500 breeding females and 28 colonies of rats totaling 350 to 4,600 breeding females, and representative samples from 28 colonies of each species were analyzed for weight gain from weaning to adulthood. The presence or absence of the other species was not associated with statistically significant differences in weight gain or any of the reproductive parameters. These results suggest that breeding colonies of rats and mice of the same health status can be housed in the same room without a negative effect on the growth and reproduction of either species.