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Constructing an inexpensive and versatile homemade rodent treadmill

Lab Animal volume 46, pages 67–69 (2017)Cite this article

Recording aerobic exercise in small animals is common in various fields as it provides an opportunity to investigate behavior and analyze tissues not normally accessible in human experiments. Pertinent to these studies is having access to equipment which allows manipulation of the exercise stimulus in order to reach overload. In such cases, small rodent treadmills are excellent tools which can control the exercise stimulus and aid in acquiring relevant data. They allow researchers to specify exercise duration, frequency, resistance, and intensity and can be used to quantify work, power and energy expenditure.

The main alternative to rodent treadmills is voluntary exercise equipment, such as running wheels. However, such methods do not allow for control of exercise duration, frequency or intensity as wheels measure the number of revolutions per 24 hours. In addition, voluntary wheel running requires specialized, individual housing, which increases the need for space and can thus become very expensive.

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Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3: Image showing the frame centered with the treadmill belt from a top view.
Figure 4: Left side shows 3 mm wide slits to accommodate the lane divider.
Figure 5: The dimensions of the added piece of wood can be seen.
Figure 6: Additional assembly details.

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  1. Department of Exercise Science, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Steven Bouganim & Andreas Bergdahl

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  1. Steven Bouganim
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  2. Andreas Bergdahl
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Correspondence to Steven Bouganim or Andreas Bergdahl.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Bouganim, S., Bergdahl, A. Constructing an inexpensive and versatile homemade rodent treadmill. Lab Anim 46, 67–69 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.1196

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