Training Problem

 The only problem that we encountered while training was Q-Tip's attempts to escape the operant box. Every now and then we would hear a loud noise and see Q-Tip mid-jump. She was trying to reach the hole at the top of the box. This behavior started during FR10 and persisted through the rest of her schedules. We ended up placing a clipboard over the hole at the top of the operant box, so Q-Tip would not view it as a way out. This seemed to discourage her jumping behavior. I do not think we could have prevented this behavior in any way simply because rats are sneaky creatures who like to find escape routes. When we told Dr. Trench, she informed us that a student from a previous term faced the same problem, and their rat actually did jump out! This problem was just a result of Q-Tip's nature. Training wise, our sessions went incredibly smooth. I do not think we would choose to change anything. Q-Tip worked hard, and we were able to move through all of the schedules seamlessly.