July 15 2025 QA answered 12639525Q0130.docx

1263925Q0130 – Live Female Mice Revised: 07/15/2025 12639525Q130 The following are questions that have been received to date 07/015/2025 All questions will be posted with answers accordingly.

Q. Which would be the specific date of the delivery? Or can we choose any date between 25 and 30th of the month delivered?

A. Delivery of the mice is tied to when aircraft can ship the mice. Our main concern is that the mice do not arrive on a Saturday because it makes it difficult to retrieve them from customs at the airport. We need them sent via live animal air cargo to Guam.

Q. Would you like the female mice to be inbreed, outbreed or that does not matter?

A. Outbreed only. We need healthy mice with no detrimental traits. These are live lure animals for attracting brown tree snakes into live cage traps.

Q. The female mice can have any genetic alterations? If yes, which ones?

A. We need healthy, normal mice. We have always received Swiss Webster strain because they are docile, resilient, and do not readily flee. Since traps are serviced weekly in the field we need mice that do not readily jump out of a lure chamber and flee into the vegetation. We also need them to be young and healthy so they can have a long life within the lure chamber (some live a year or more in the trap).

Q. What is the desirable age range (when leaving the laboratory)?

A. The Statement of work lists the size of the mice in grams. This is the usual weight for young adult mice that can be hardy enough to survive in the traps. We cannot accept old breeder mice or aged out laboratory animals. They will be too old and not very hardy and would be unable to survive long in the trap. We have always received mice that have been weaned from their mother and have hit the weight requirement in grams. In future SOW’s we will make sure to state explicitly that we need young adults.

Q. Any desirable genotype?

A. As stated before. Healthy resilient mice are the most critical trait. Preferably outbred with no specific trait outside Swiss Webster strain characteristics.

Q. The strain 000664 / C57BL/6 of mice is the one desirable for you?

A. This is not an acceptable strain due to the common medical ailments associated with the strain. Any mouse strain used must be an outbreed and resilient mouse since they must live in a lure chamber in the tropical elements. Young, genetically healthy mice are needed since often we can expect them to live a year or more in the mouse chamber if they are young and healthy.

Q. Does the coat color matter? (white, black, gray, bown) If yes, which one?

A. Color does not matter

Q. Any desirable haplotype?

A. No. We have always got something like the Swiss Webster mouse or similar breed since they are docile and do not flee (important since we must clean their lure chambers weekly and that requires moving them while out in the field).

Q. First semester it's already over, so delivery for 2025 is not 1680 female mice, but 840 female mices, correct?

A. The number of mice being delivered per order is dependent on need and mortality in the field (sometimes we order more, sometimes less). These mice are not being used in a laboratory setting but are in a live lure chamber as an attractant to get brown tree snakes to enter live cage traps.

Q. The awarded contract, will the delivery start in September 2025.

A. It depends on our needs for mice at the time. We will likely need mice (just got 4th quarter delivery), but it is all dependent on mortalities in the field, so when and how many mice we need each quarter can vary.

Q. Any restrictions for other Countries? Can we quote any country other than the US and Canada?

A. Yes, there are restrictions. We have the Buy American Clause 52.225-1that we need to adhere to.