Hand-Rearing Method for Infant Marmosets

Summary

Here, we describe a hand-rearing method for raising infant marmosets in an animal incubator. This method greatly increases the survival rate of marmoset infants, which provides the opportunity to study the development of marmoset infants with similar genetic backgrounds raised in different postnatal environments.

Abstract

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a small and highly social New World monkey with high reproduction rates, which has been proven to be a compelling non-human primate model for biomedical and neuroscience research. Some females give birth to triplets; however, the parents cannot raise all of them. To save these infants, we have developed a hand-rearing method for raising newborn marmosets. In this protocol, we describe the formula of the food, the time for feeding, the configuration of the temperature and humidity, as well as the adaptation of the hand-reared infants to the colony environment. This hand-rearing method significantly increases the survival rate of marmoset infants (without hand-rearing: 45%; with hand-rearing: 86%) and provides the opportunity to study the development of marmoset infants with similar genetic backgrounds raised in different postnatal environments. As the method is practical and easy to use, we anticipate that it could also be applied to other labs working with common marmosets.

Introduction

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a small and arboreal New World monkey originating from South and Central America. The use of marmosets in biomedical research has grown rapidly over the past decades due to several key advantages of marmosets compared with other non-human primates (NHPs), including their smaller body size, easier handling and breeding in captivity, shorter gestation time, earlier sexual maturation, and lower zoonotic risks^1,2,3,4,5,6. Th....

Protocol

All the experimental procedures were approved by the Animal Use and Care Committee of Zhejiang University and followed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines.

1. Housing and husbandry⁴⁴

1. Set the colony room with a 12 h:12 h day/night cycle, the temperature at 26-28 °C, and the relative humidity at 45%-55%.
2. Pair male and female marmosets at 2-6 years old, and hold them in cages (850 mm x 800 mm x 800 mm) with suffici.......

Discussion

The common marmoset is a very useful NHP model for biomedical and neuroscience research. However, marmoset resources are too limited to meet the rapidly growing needs. In this work, we have developed a hand-rearing method that not only increases the survival rate of marmoset infants but also provides an opportunity to study their postnatal development. This hand-rearing method is practical and easy to learn and is, therefore, easily applicable to other labs working with common marmosets.

Some .......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
animal incubator	RCOM, Korea		MX - BL600N, 855 mm (W) x 470 mm (L) x 440 mm (H)
baby milk powder	Meadjohnson, America		suitable for 0-12 months of age, executive standard - GB25596
baby rice paste	HEINZ, China		suitable for 0-6 months of age, executive standard - GB10769
baby wipes	babycare, China		soft
beaker	ShuNiu, China		100 mL
blankets	Grace, China		10 cm × 10 cm, soft
climbing frame	WowWee, China		firm and no small circular structures
disposable diaper pads	Hi Health Pet, China		either M or L size
disposable sterile syringe	Cofoe, China		1 mL, 2.5 mL, 3 mL, 5 mL, 10 mL
electronic scale	YouSheng, China		measuring range from 0 to 6,000 g with precision of 0.2 g
intravenous injector	HD, China		0.55 mm x 20 mm needle
kettle	FGA, China		warm-keeping kettle 1,500 mL
lactulose	BELCOL, China		to solve constipation
plastic weighing dish	SKSLAB, China		80 mm x 80 mm x 22 mm, used as a bowl
plush toy	Lebiyou, China		soft
probiotic powder	G-Pet, China		to regulate gastrointestinal environment
sterile centrifuge tube	NEST, China		50 mL
swab	OYEAH, China		80 - 100 mm
toy roller	WowWee, China		firm and no small circular structures