Cotton rats are extremely excitable and have a strong flight-or-fight response. A handling method optimized to reduce the stress of the animals is described which will make cotton rats more accessible as a preclinical model.
Cuddington, B., Verschoor, M., Mossman, K. Handling of the Cotton Rat in Studies for the Pre-clinical Evaluation of Oncolytic Viruses. J. Vis. Exp. (93), e52232, doi:10.3791/52232 (2014).