The following FAQs will provide more information for Lab Animal Resources (LAR). If you have further questions that are not addressed on this page, please email lar@iu.edu.
FAQs
Basic Information - Starting to Work at Indiana University animal facilities
Schedule an appointment to meet with the IACUC Administrator and Attending Veterinarian to give you an orientation to the animal care program. Start working on your animal care and use protocol which requires several training steps: Medical Surveillance Questionairre, determining where your animals will be located with LAR, orientation to the animal facilities, training of staff, and EHS training.
- Be approved on a current animal use protocol.
- Have a valid Crimson Card. o Complete the Facility Access Form on the LAR webpage.
- Email the form to lar@iu.edu requesting access to your respective animal facility.
- Complete animal facility orientation. Please note: you will need to have orientation for each animal facility in which you need access.
No, you should only enter rooms housing animals on protocols in which you yourself are approved. You may not handle any animals on a protocol to which you are NOT approved nor enter rooms housing those animals.
- Must complete the Visitor Facility Access Form on the LAR Forms page.
- Contact lar@iu.edu with the form at least 5-7 days prior to day access is needed.
Rodents kept in the research vivarium are housed via specific husbandry practices to assure they are free of specific pathogens that can challenge their health and influence the integrity of the research data collected. Wild rodents, pet rodents, and rodents used as food for other pets (e.g., feeder mice used to feed a pet snake) can carry zoonotic diseases and pathogens that could alter the health status of our rodent colonies. If individuals working with animals have pet rodents, it is important to consider the possibility that pathogens rodent pets may carry could be transmitted to vivarium animals through dander and fomites clinging to clothes and hair of the pet owner or wild rodent handler. Thus, the best practice to prevent bringing contaminants into the animal facility include the following:
- Avoid handling pet rodents prior to working with research rodents for the day.
- Shower and wear clean clothing into work each day working with research animals.
- Wash hands regularly and wear PPE as directed for each facility/room.
For more information on protecting the vivarium and learning the risks associated with wild and pet rodents, please see Vivarium Risks.
No.
LAR Animal Care Staff observes and cares for your animals 365 days a year. Animal Care Staff is in the facilities generally from 7:30 am-4 pm on weekdays. On weekends, animal care staff are usually in the facilities in the morning, but there are no set hours.
Contact veterinary staff directly via phone. Contact numbers are posted in the animal facilities. If no answer, leave a message with your name, lab name, location of animal, and issue or concern. If you are not contacted within 15 minutes, please call again
Find an LAR staff member. If after 4pm, find another member of your lab to help you. IF you are locked out of the building, contact another lab member to help you or the building manager.
Contact lar@iu.edu immediately.
Facility Information
See Injury Report Signage located on all facility exit doors. (Paperwork links) First Aid kits are located in the LAR office spaces in each facility which can only be accessed while LAR staff are present (M-F 7:30am-4pm).
When first working with animals at the university, you will need to complete a medical questionnaire about your previous contact with animals and associated clinical effects. (see Occupational Health and Safety for Animal Users for the Bloomington campus and follow the prompts for the medical questionnaire). A university-associated physician will review the information and indicate if you will need further health screen testing. That testing may include respiratory function tests and fit testing for use of a respirator. Before being fit tested log into Environmental Health and Safety Respiratory Protection Program for further details about the process. This would be the normal route allowing you to use a respirator for your allergies.
If not recommended through the medical evaluation, you can choose to voluntarily wear extra gloves, lab coat, bonnet and use an N-95 respirator, however you will have to be fit tested for the respirator to ensure if fits and you know how to use it. See above process.
After fit testing, contact your PI to provide you with the extra PPE in which you can bring/wear into the animal facility. Or your PI can contact lar@iu.edu to request that we provide the extra PPE in the facility for your lab to use, for a small fee.
Standard Light Cycles for animal rooms are 12hr daylight:12hr darkness with most timers set at:
- 7:30am-7:30pm during Day Light Savings
- 6:30am-6:30pm in the fall when Day Light Savings ends
- Can also check the room information sheet on your animal facility door
Need a non-standard light cycle? Contact lar@iu.edu to request a change in light cycle.
Light intensity varies greatly between facilities and rooms within facilities. We cannot guarantee a certain light intensity or an average consistent light intensity. LAR does not place animal cages on the top of shelving to prevent too much exposure to overhead lighting.
Please see the IACUC Policy. Not without permission of the LAR Director.
Janitor closet locations, ask the Animal Care Staff within the facility.
See information regarding chemical hazard and biological hazard sticker.
There is a bucket labeled chemical spill kit in each facility.
There is a bucket labeled biological spill kit in each facility.
Administrative Information
Per diem rates are listed on the LAR website under the "Services and Rates" tab on the Per Diem Rates page.
Requests for animal orders are placed through theLaboratory Animal Resources - Bloomington iLab Core page.
Training requests for aseptic technique, animal handling, surgical technique, or other procedures can be submitted through theLaboratory Animal Resources - Bloomington iLab Core page.
LAR can assist with ordering some veterinary supplies. Please submit a supply request through theLaboratory Animal Resources - Bloomington iLab Core page. Please note: LAR cannot order controlled substances for researchers.