Blindness and play fighting in juvenile rats

Play behavior of blinded and sighted juvenile rats was measured using the brief paired-encounter procedure. Dyads of sighted-sighted, blind-blind, or sighted-blind rats were observed in a large or small chamber on alternate days for ages 28 through 43 days. Blinded rats played as frequently as sighted rats regardless of pair composition or chamber size. Vision is not essential for initiating or maintaining play fighting.