1. TCP LIMS – Cage Cards I Objectives
o demonstrate how TCP users can find information about cages and mice using our Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)

2. LIMS Demo Site
If you would like to use LIMS to try any of the features described in this course please visit TCP’s DEMONSTRATION site (
All Data contained on this site is not live and will not send any notifications to users.
We recommend using Firefox or Chrome when accessing LIMS. Other browsers (especially Internet Explorer) will work 'most of the time' but they are not supported.

3. Log In
Try It
Log in to the LIMS demo system ( ca)
Use one of the following users to log in
training1, training2, training3, training4
The password for all training accounts is tcp123

4. Cage Cards
We use cage card flags of various colours to signify the type of cage. These flags are ¾ of the size of the printed cage cards and go in front of the cage card in the holder.
These same colours are used throughout the site.

5. Printing Cage Cards To print a cage card, you can
View a Cage and click the Get PDF link from the Actions panel
Navigate to Cage >> Cage Search, select the cages containing the mice you wish to mate, and click Get PDF from the Actions panel
In the facility, once the PDF is open, print the document using printer attached to the room’s laptop.

6. Entering Cages
You can add cages using this field by putting the cursor in the field
scanning the barcode with the wireless scanners available in the mouse rooms
typing the cage barcode and clicking <Enter> or <Tab>.

7. Cage Search
To search for cages, navigate to Cage > Cage Card Search.
Column 2 contains a check box for the cage. By selecting one or more cages and selecting an action from the Action Bar (at the bottom of the page), you can work with several cages at once.
The colour associated with the cage card is displayed in the 3rd column.
The 3rd column can also contain an icon. Hover over the icon to see its description.

8. Cage Contents Search
To search for mice and cages, navigate to Cage > Cage Contents Search.
Cage Contents Search shows more detailed mouse information grouped by cage.

9. Mouse Search To search for mice, navigate to Cage > Mouse Search.
Column 2 contains a check box for the mouse. By selecting one or more mice and selecting an action from the Action Bar (at the bottom of the page), you can work with several mice at once.

10. View Cage
From anywhere in the application, clicking on a link for a Cage will bring you to the View Cage page.
The Action Panel on the right lists the various actions that are available for this cage.
Mice can be terminated by clicking the Terminate link associated with that mouse.
Individual mouse genotype data can be entered on the View Cage page.
Terminated mice are moved to the Terminated Mice panel at the bottom of the screen.
A mouse can be Un-terminated by clicking the Un-Terminate link.

11. View Cage
Cages that can produce litters (Pregnancy, Breeding, and Embryo Transfer) will list the litters that are currently in the cage in the Litters section of the cage card.
Inactive (weaned or culled) litters are listed in the Inactive Litters section at the bottom of the cage card.

12. View Cage
If the cage has been moved between rooms, the cage's movements can be viewed by going to the Related Entities tab and opening the Cage Movement panel.
If mice have been moved out of the cage, the mice's movements can be viewed by going to the Related Entities tab and opening the Mouse History panel.

13. Holding Cages and Mice To Hold a cage, you can
View a Cage and click the Hold Cage link from the Actions panel
Navigate to Cage Search, select the cages you wish to hold, and click Hold Cage from the Actions panel
View a Mouse and click the Hold Mouse link from the Actions panel
The selected cages are displayed in the Holding Area (top right of the screen).
These held cages can be imported into a variety of areas (Wean Mice page, most service requests, notifications, and when filling mouse orders).

14. View Mouse
From anywhere in the application, clicking on a link for a Mouse will bring you to the View Mouse page.
The Action Panel on the right lists the various actions that are available for this mouse.
The View Mouse page can be used to record and view information about a mouse including genotype, pedigree, welfare, and log entries.

15. Mouse Pedigree
The mouse's pedigree can be accessed by clicking Full Pedigree link on the View Mouse page.

16. Mouse Log Entries
The Log Entries tab can be used to enter notes about the mouse such as date of surgery or behavioural observations.

17. Mouse Welfare
The Welfare tab can also be used to indicate health-related information about the mouse. If you use the Welfare tab instead of the Log Entries tab, you can track common issues using LIMS built-in reports.

18. Health Alerts
The Health Alerts panel on the Home Page provides links to your cages with mouse/litter welfare issues that TCP staff are monitoring or treating and to your cages with mice/litters that have reached an endpoint.
Click on the Health Alert Cage link on the Home Page to navigate to the cage with the Health Alert. Then click on the Welfare tab to see the type of concern and the current treatment.
Click on the Details button to see when the alert started and ended.

19. Cage Inventory
To access the cage inventory report, navigate to Cage >> Reports >> Cage Inventory.

20. Mouse Inventory
To access the cage inventory report, navigate to Cage >> Reports >> Mouse Inventory.

21. TCP LIMS The live site is available at https://lims.phenogenomics.ca.
Questions
Contact the LIMS Team at