What is the Tube Dominance Test?

The Tube Dominance Test is a straightforward and highly reproducible behavioral assay for establishing social hierarchy in laboratory rodents. In a standard trial, two animals are placed at opposite ends of a narrow tube and allowed to meet in the middle. The subordinate animal retreats backward out of the tube while the dominant animal holds its position. Because the tube precludes lateral movement or escape, the outcome is an unambiguous measure of social rank that correlates strongly with home-cage dominance, weight, and testosterone levels.

Key Features

• Silent Automated Doors: Two central sliding doors provide precise experimental control over the moment of animal contact, ensuring standardized trial conditions across all dyadic comparisons.
• Slotted Top Section: The tube includes a slotted opening accommodating cannulae, fiber optic cables, and EEG wires for tethered animal studies — enabling social dominance testing during simultaneous electrophysiology or optogenetics.
• Transparent Perspex: Full-length transparent construction allows continuous visual observation and video recording of both animals throughout the trial.
• Magnetic Starting Boxes: Magnetically attached starting boxes at each end allow rapid animal loading and ensure animals enter the tube simultaneously on release.
• Modular Configurations: Available in 160 mm (4010-16), 300 mm (4010-30), and 600 mm (4010-60) tube lengths, with various door and slot combinations to suit different experimental designs.