Bar-Mouthing

Bar-mouthing is a stereotypy, a repetitive, unvarying behavior lacking apparent goal or function. Bar-mouthing is often performed with fixed proceeding behaviors, a fixed idiosyncratic posture, and on only one or two bars in the cage.

Bar-mouthing is a bout of sham-biting on a fixed area of the cage bars. A mouse holds a cage bar in its diastema and either:

• Makes a series of sham-biting movements along the bar.
• Wipes its open mouth along the bar.
• Wipes its open mouth along the bar while rotating or flicking its head backwards and forwards.

Bar-mouthing is distinguished from other biting behaviors because it lasts longer and is more than a single bite or two in succession.

Stereotypies

Malfunctional

None