Rat tickling: Certification

This online course from Purdue University, which was funded by the Animal Welfare Institute, was created by Dr Megan LaFollette (North American 3Rs Collaborative) and colleagues with the aim of allowing you to become certified in the correct rat tickling technique.

This course is best for individuals who want to apply rat tickling in their facilities and receive a certificate for their efforts.

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Describe the purpose and benefits of rat tickling
• Practically implement rat tickling in your facility
• Recognise signs that rats are responding positively or negatively to tickling

The course is divided into six main sections; you need to pass a quiz at the end of each section before proceeding to the next.

The course is estimated to take between 30 minutes to 2 hours to complete. However, you can access the course at any time and complete it in multiple sessions.

For those who do not wish do get a certificate there is the option of undertaking the rat tickling open course, which will allow you to learn a few things about rat tickling. You can access the rat tickling open course using the link above, in the highlighted box - just click on the 'open course' option when prompted.