Vivarium Equipment Supplier

ARES Scientific as Your Vivarium Equipment Supplier

ARES Scientific serves research institutions, universities, pharmaceutical companies, and government facilities as a full-service vivarium equipment supplier — providing integrated solutions across animal and vivarium equipment, containment, wash and sterilization, cold storage, decontamination, and material handling. Multiple members of our team have direct, hands-on experience managing animal facility operations, and our specialists collectively bring over 75 years of vivarium-specific expertise to every client engagement. We participate actively in local and national AALAS chapters, with several specialists having served as AALAS chairs and board members — a level of industry involvement that directly informs how we help facilities select, configure, and support their equipment investments.

In 2017, ARES completed one of the most technically complex vivarium construction projects in the country, integrating rodent housing, automatic watering, fully automated cage wash systems, bedding delivery and removal, portable and fixed decontamination equipment, and electronic cage cards across four manufacturing partners within a compressed timeline. The project earned the Turnkey Facility of the Year award and remains a benchmark for the integrated, operationally focused approach ARES brings to every vivarium project — from single-room equipment upgrades to ground-up facility builds.

Vivarium Equipment Categories We Supply

ARES supports the full operational scope of research animal facilities with equipment spanning containment, environmental control, cage management, wash and sterilization, and biosafety. Our rodent caging portfolio covers individually ventilated caging (IVC) systems, static microisolator cages, and metabolic and specialty research configurations for mice, rats, and other small rodents. Large animal caging options include rabbit, ferret, marmoset, and primate housing for facilities maintaining non-rodent species alongside standard rodent colonies.

Containment and clean air equipment includes biological safety cabinets, cage change and transfer stations, and isolators — all critical to maintaining the separation of clean and dirty corridors, protecting technicians from allergen and pathogen exposure, and preventing cross-contamination during routine cage changing and animal transfer procedures. Wash and sterilization infrastructure includes cage, rack, and bottle washers, steam sterilizers, and vivarium dry heat sterilizers — the equipment backbone of every compliant cage wash area. Decontamination systems from TOMI Environmental Solutions support both room-level and surface-level biological decontamination requirements for barrier facilities, import/export suites, and outbreak response scenarios. Automatic watering systems, bedding fill and disposal systems, material handling equipment, anesthesia systems, euthanasia systems, necropsy tables and procedure hoods, and imaging systems round out the complete vivarium equipment portfolio available through ARES Scientific.

How ARES Supports Vivarium Operations

ARES representatives engage with vivarium directors, managers, supervisors, and technicians at every stage of a facility’s lifecycle — from initial equipment selection through installation, staff training, and long-term service coordination. Our support model is built around four areas where operational expertise directly affects outcomes: facility analysis, cost analysis, coordination and support, and training.

Facility Analysis. ARES representatives conduct in-person facility evaluations, take detailed measurements to confirm equipment fit and utility compatibility, and perform room layouts that balance housing density, animal welfare, and technician safety. In cage wash areas, we complete throughput analyses to verify that washer and sterilizer capacity aligns with colony size and operational schedules. We also work closely with facilities and engineering personnel to identify HVAC considerations that affect clean air and containment equipment performance and room pressure relationships.

Cost Analysis and Facility Integration. ARES interfaces directly with architects, engineers, and contractors during facility design and construction to confirm that utility provisions — electrical, plumbing, drain, and exhaust — match equipment requirements before installation. Because we maintain active relationships with a broad network of vivarium equipment manufacturers, we are positioned to coordinate equipment integration across multiple suppliers and manage the sequencing and dependencies that complex facility projects require.

Coordination and Support. Coordinating delivery and installation of new vivarium equipment into an operating facility without disrupting colony operations or inspection timelines demands precise logistics management. ARES specialists work directly with project management teams, local service providers, and independent NSF certifiers and equipment service companies to manage delivery sequencing, installation oversight, and post-installation testing and verification.

Training. Our local ARES specialists provide on-site training for facility staff on equipment operation, maintenance procedures, and compliance documentation — ensuring that the teams responsible for day-to-day vivarium operations are equipped to maintain equipment performance and meet institutional biosafety and veterinary oversight requirements. When selecting rodent caging, for example, we guide clients through material compatibility questions — polycarbonate versus polysulfone — to ensure cage selection is compatible with their specific wash and sterilization processes and autoclave parameters. For investigators running cannula studies or metabolic research requiring temperature-controlled housing, we navigate the available options to enhance animal welfare, reduce experimental variables, and improve operational efficiency across the facility.