02/21/01 (Updated by Emily)-Today was also done according to procedure. All went smoothly, except for the fact that we noticed that Fump and Eek are both sneezing. The cause is unknown, and we are concerned about it greatly. Eek seems to be active and well, however Fump seems to be a bit lethargic. We will keep observing them as time goes on.
02/20/01 (Updated by Emily)-This is day two of the experiments. We performed the same process and took data per rat. We have been noticing for the past day the Eek has been sneezing and are concerned. Originall, I purchased four rats due to the fact that I personally love them. Eek was to be my pet, but the day before the project, one of the other rats grew ill, and I brought Eek in his place. We hope the the sneezing is due to dust and not the spread of this unknown illness. Also, today we changed the bedding type from newspaper to cedar shavings. This was due to the incredible mess made by the paper being shredded and overturned. Also, the food type was changed from seed to rat pellets due to the ease of measurement and the more uniform diet. We knew that the seeds are of different caloric value and that they are not evenly distributed throughout the mix. It is hoped that this change will increase the efficiency of the observations.
02/19/01 (Updated by Emily)-Today was the fist day that the rats were at school. We placed them in the back of the lab and spent quite a bit of time preparing them to be stabilized and observed. Three 5 1/2 gallon aquariums were sterilized, along with three rodent wheels, three petri dishes for food, three more dishes to catch drips from water bottles, and three bottles and holders. After the rats were situated, we bagan the daily routine. We gave them 30 grams of a seed mixture, 8 oz of water, and weighed them individually. We took care to remain as clean as possible, washing between rats and keeping a sterile environment due to the fact that this will be crucial to our success in the future. We decided to name the rats several odd names that held special meaning to us- the control rat we named Eek, the Staphylococcus aureus rat we named Aargh, and the Staphylococcus epidermidis rat we named Fump. As mentioned, the names are silly, but they gave the project a sense of personality. To view the daily progress on each rat, click on their names.
02/18/01 (Updated by Emily)-As you can see, this is the start of the second phase of this project. Jenn and I got the rats today, and I brought them to my house to be taken to school tomorrow. We are very excited about the project, and cannot wait to begin. I am concerned, however, due to the fact that one of the rats is sneezing and if it is ill it will be a problem for the proceeds of the experiment. Hopefully all is well.
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