The time-to-integrate-to-nest test as an indicator of wellbeing in laboratory mice.

Minimizing and alleviating pain and distress in laboratory mice without compromising the methodologic integrity of research is a crucial goal. However, current methods for welfare assessment in mice are not well suited to cageside checks. In the present study, we developed a simple assessment tool-the time-to-integrate-to-nest test (TINT)-and evaluated its ability to identify mice with compromised welfare.