Shepherd Specialty Papers Kageshck™ Backless Splittable Shack (SKBS) – Case of 800 Mouse Houses The Shepherd Specialty Papers SKBS (Backless Splittable Shack) is a professional, single-use environmental enrichment shelter engineered exclusively for mice within vivariums, transgenic facilities, and toxicological laboratories. Fabricated from high-purity, compressed virgin cellulose pulp, this innovative "mouse house" provides a cozy, comforting retreat that actively supports natural nesting, sheltering, and hiding behaviors. Supplied as a high-density commercial facility logistics case of 800 individual shacks, the SKBS features a specialized backless, perforated splittable architecture. This design allows technicians to customize shelter sizes and guarantees effortless daily visual health inspections without having to pick up the shelter or disturb the resting animals. Technical Performance & Design High-Purity Virgin Cellulose Matrix: Molded entirely from unbleached, contaminant-free natural paper pulp. This guarantees zero chemical additives, toxic resins, or pesticide carryover, providing a completely safe chewable substrate for sensitive genomic and GLP animal lines. Perforated Splittable Architecture: Crafted with a structural micro-perforation line down the center. This lets technicians quickly separate a single shack into two independent corner shelters, letting you customize the enrichment layout based on the group size or cage footprint. Backless Visual Inspection Channel: Built without a rear wall panel. This clever design creates an open-ended visual pathway, allowing vivarium staff and veterinarians to perform mandatory health and litter checks without having to lift the shelter and trigger a stress response. Autoclave & Fluid Safety Validation: Fully compatible with standard facility steam autoclave sterilization loops ($121^\circ\text{C} / 250^\circ\text{F}$), fitting seamlessly into standard cleanroom prep routines. The highly porous paper fiber safely wicks away micro-droplets of condensation, helping keep the cage floor dry. Product Specifications Model Number / SKU: SKBS (Kageshck™ Backless Splittable Series) Primary Manufacturer: Shepherd Specialty Papers / Animal Care Systems Target Animal Suitability: Rodents (Optimized for laboratory mice, weaning cohorts, and standard litters) Material Chemistry: 100% Non-Toxic Compressed Virgin Cellulose Paper Fibers Color Morphology: Natural Light Tan / Kraft Paper Hue Structural Format: Molded backless dome shell with center micro-perforated split line Sterility & Reusability Class: Non-Sterile baseline | Disposable (Single-use per cage cycle) Chemical Baseline: Certified free of detectable screens, heavy metals, optical brighteners, or chemical binders Packaging Configuration: High-Volume Case of 800 Shacks (Densely nested in space-saving internal columns within a tracking-coded warehouse master carton) Key Benefits & Applications Cortisol and Aggression Reduction: Provides a dark, comforting refuge that shields mice from intense, ambient vivarium lighting. This helps drastically reduce aggressive barbering, pacing, and stereotypical stress behaviors in co-housed male cages. Thermoregulation and Breeding Success: Acts as an insulation barrier against the continuous airflow of high-velocity IVC caging systems. Mice can easily chew and shred the cellulose walls to build cozy, safe maternal nests for vulnerable pups. Streamlined Facility Labor: Eliminates the labor-intensive washing, scrubbing, and physical damage tracking that comes with reusable plastic shelters. Used paper shacks are simply discarded along with dirty bedding during standard cage wash cycles. GLP and Toxicological Assays: Provides an identical, factory-metered enrichment baseline for every cage. This removes the variable chemical residues or residual detergents that can linger on improperly washed plastic structures. Shepherd Specialty Papers® and Kageshck™ are registered commercial trademarks of Shepherd Specialty Papers, Inc. SKU SKBS specifies the backless splittable configuration. For alternative research protocols where a full four-sided enclosure is required, or for larger rodent models like rats, alternative high-density polycarbonate or solid-wall cardboard nesting models should be specified.
