Reference values for selected hematological, biochemical and physiological parameters of Sprague‐Dawley rats at the Animal House, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Lack of available reference values in a research setting under local conditions can be a drawback for beginners, as the accuracy of data from control samples cannot be checked at the beginning of a research project. This affects comparisons with data from test samples. To avoid these complications in their research projects, beginners tend to have a greater number of animals in the control group compared to test groups in order to have control group measurements within 2 SDs of the mean.