Lab Animal Management Software for Academic Research
Summary
Academic labs operate under their own constraints: grant-based funding, rotating student staff, shared vivarium infrastructure, and tight budgets. Colony.care was designed with academic labs in mind, a free tier for small colonies, transparent CAD pricing, a 2-minute setup, and an interface simple enough that a new graduate student can learn it in their first session. Yet it scales to departmental and multi-investigator facilities without changing platforms.
Who This Is For
University vivariums, teaching hospitals, and research institutes, from a single-PI lab managing a few breeding cages to a multi-department facility serving dozens of research groups.
Why Colony.care Fits Academic Research
Academic labs operate under their own constraints: grant-based funding, rotating student staff, shared vivarium infrastructure, and tight budgets. Colony.care was designed with academic labs in mind, a free tier for small colonies, transparent CAD pricing, a 2-minute setup, and an interface simple enough that a new graduate student can learn it in their first session. Yet it scales to departmental and multi-investigator facilities without changing platforms.
Key Capabilities
- Multi-project administration: manage multiple labs under one account with per-project isolation and centralized oversight.
- Compliance documentation: CCAC, AAALAC, and IACUC-ready audit trails with indefinite retention, protocol-to-animal linking, and one-click data exports for inspections and annual reports.
- Automated billing: per-diem calculations, chargeback reports by grant or cost center, and multi-rate support for different housing types and care levels.
- Procurement and pharmacy: order animals from vendors, track shipments and quarantine, manage drug inventory with expiry alerts and usage logs.
- SSO and access control: SAML/SCIM for institutional authentication, role-based permissions so students, technicians and PIs each see what they need.
- Free to start: the free Starter tier supports small labs. Upgrade as you grow.
FAQ
How fast can we deploy?
Under two minutes. No server provisioning, no software installation. Create an account and start adding data.
Can we migrate existing records?
Yes, as CSV. Export your records from your current system, such as SoftMouse.NET or PyRAT, to CSV, or to a spreadsheet you save as CSV. Then import the file: map your columns, preview the import, and commit when ready. Full rollback if anything looks wrong.
Does pricing scale with our lab?
Yes. The Lab tier supports unlimited animals across 10 projects, with additional projects at CA$34.99/mo each. Organization tier handles multi-site deployments with custom pricing. No per-user fees, no surprise charges.
A university facility that sponsors several labs works from one portal: see core facilities and multi-lab organizations.