Jugular vein venepuncture and anatomy in Australian Rattus

We describe our experiences collecting blood from Australian Rattus. We found uniform anatomy of the external jugular vein between Australian and exotic Rattus species. Understanding where the maxillary and linguofacial veins join to form the external jugular vein is critical to venepuncture. After locating this union, we consistently achieved successful venepuncture of the external jugular vein; yielding large blood volumes. All other routes of venepuncture yielded minute blood volumes or were unsuccessful. We provide recommendations for venepuncture in Australian rodents and encourage others to share their experiences; such reports facilitate sampling rarely sampled species and promote animal welfare.