Training Resources

• Working Safely with Nonhuman Primates (English)
• Working Safely with Nonhuman Primates (English Script)
• Medidas de Seguirdad cuiando se Trabaja con Primates (Spanish)
• Medidas de Seguirdad cuiando se Trabaja con Primates (Spanish Script)

Herpes B Virus Safety Training Documents

NIH Policy Manual 3044-2 requires that all personnel working directly with nonhuman primates or that regularly enter nonhuman primate facilities undergo safety awareness training prior to unsupervised work. The documents provided on this page are part of the resources used by the trainers at NIH to conduct the course “Working Safely with Nonhuman Primates.” The trainers have been qualified to conduct this safety awareness training within the NIH Intramural Animal Program. Any questions regarding these resources should be directed to the Office of Animal Care and Use.

• Training Package List

Training Package components:

• Trainer Power Point Presentation
• Video/CD/DVD Quiz
• Herpes B Virus Fact Sheet
• PM 3044-2 – Protection of NIH Personnel who Work with NHPs
• PM 1340 – NIH Occupational Safety and Health Management
• Video/CD/DVD Script
• Nonhuman Primate and Other Research Animal Bite, Scratch, Splash, and Exposure (BSSE) Guidelines, 12/14/2021 REVISED
• NIH OMS Animal Exposure Program
• Training Registration Form:
  • Microsoft Excel: Training Registration Form
  • PDF Format: Training Registration Form
• 2003 Emerging Inf. Dis. Article
• 2002 Clinical Inf. Dis. article
• 1998 MMWR article

• Fish Guts – A multimedia Guide to the Art & Science of Fish Anatomy, Health, & Necropsy
• Zebrafish Husbandry Association – Husbandry Info
• Zebrafish International Resource Center (ZIRC)
• Fish Genotyping Tutorial
• Zebrafish Model Organism Database (ZFIN)

• Rabbit Technical Procedure Tutorial

• Mouse Care & Husbandry (Jackson Labs)
• Mouse Pup Appearance by Age Poster (Jackson Labs)
• Mouse Reproduction Facts
• Mouse Nomenclature Guidelines (Jackson Labs)
• NHLBI Conditional Allele Mouse Planner (CAMP) – Computer program for designing viable breeding strategies.
• NIH ARAC Guidelines for the Establishment and Use of Mouse Breeding Groups
• Visual Guide to Mouse Estrous Cycle (Jackson Labs)

Commercial Animal Sources:

• Charles River Laboratories, Inc.
• Envigo (formerly Harlan Sprague Dawley, Inc.)
• Labcorp
• The Jackson Laboratory
• Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Centers
• Taconic

• Mouse Restraint
• Rat Restraint

• Mandibular
• Retro-orbital
• Saphenous
• Tail Nick
• Tail Vein Puncture
• Intracardiac
• Rodent Blood Collection Tutorial
• Effects of Blood Collection Site on Data in Mice
• Methods of Blood Collection in the Mouse (Hoff)
• NIH ARAC Guidelines for Survival Bleeding of Mice and Rats

• Intradermal Injection
• Intramuscular Injection
• Intraperitoneal Injection
• Intravenous Injection
• Oral Gavage
• Subcutaneous Injection
• Injection Routes, Maximum Needle Sizes, & Volumes Table
• Rodent Administration Route Tutorial
• Newcastle University Administration of Substances

• Tail Biopsy
• Ear Punch
• Rodent & Fish Genotyping Procedures Tutorial
• NIH ARAC Guidelines for the Genotyping of Mice and Rats
• NIH ARAC Guidelines for Toe Clipping of Rodents

• Columbia University Medical Center Microsurgery Research & Training Laboratory
• Newcastle University Aseptic Technique in Rodent Surgery
• NINDS Aseptic Technique Training Course
• NIH ARAC Guidelines for Survival Rodent Surgery

• Rodent CO2 Euthanasia
• NIH ARAC Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Rodent Fetuses and Neonates
• NIH ARAC Guidelines for Euthanasia of Rodents Using Carbon Dioxide
• AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals: 2013 Edition

The Mouse and Rat Workshops: Hands-on Animal Techniques workshops are three and a half hour sessions that provide investigators with an opportunity to receive training on techniques using live mice and rats. Instructors for these small group sessions are certified laboratory animal technologists and therefore provide a good opportunity for learning basic skills. Note that students MUST be experienced and comfortable with basic handling and restraint of mice or rats prior to attending the class.

Techniques covered in the classes: Basic handling and restraint, ear tag, ear punch, IP injection, gavage, tail vein injection, mandibular and retroorbital blood collection, tail snip for genotyping, ID injection, IC blood collection, saphenous blood collection (rats) and euthanasia. Note that techniques covered may vary depending on the skill level of students.

Skill Level – Novice: This course is meant to introduce scientists and technicians to rodent techniques, but is not intended to make them proficient in the techniques. Note that students MUST be experienced and comfortable with basic handling and restraint of mice or rats.

Prerequisite Training: Students must have prior experience in handling and restraint of either mice or rats respectively before attending either the mouse or rat workshops. Proper animal handling and restraint is essential for proper performance of technical procedures. Please contact OACU or your IC’s research animal program office for further information.

Cost: There is no registration fee for this course.

Register for Mouse Workshop

Due to limited workshop size attendance is limited. Further resources are available at the IC level and we are happy to help connect you with those resources.

Restrictions: Participation is limited to NIH government employees. Contract employees are not routinely authorized for this training; however, they may be placed on a waiting list and contacted when open training slots are available.

• Alternatives in Animal Research – NIH Library Training Course
• Animal Model and Model Organism Information Resources – NIH Library Training Course
• Atlas of Laboratory Mouse Histology
• E-Mouse Atlas Project

• NHGRI Training in Basic Biomethodology for Laboratory Mice CD and the NHGRI Training in Basic Biomethodology for Laboratory Rats CD

  The National Human Genome Research Institute Office of Laboratory Animal Medicine has developed training CDs in Basic Biomethodology for Laboratory Mice and the Basic Biomethodology for Laboratory Rats. The CDs illustrate the most common practices used in the NIH intramural research program and were developed to promote proficiency in performing common techniques in the these two common rodent species. The CDs consist of training modules, table of contents, lists of definitions, and help and reference sections. To obtain copies of the CDs send your name, research institution affiliation, full mailing address and email address to: rodent-cd@mail.nih.gov. Requests are limited to only one of each CD.