Refinement Database

Database on Refinement of Housing, Husbandry, Care, and Use of Animals in Research

This database, created in 2000, is updated every four months with newly published scientific articles, books, and other publications related to improving or safeguarding the welfare of animals used in research.

Tips for using the database:

  • This landing page displays all of the publications in the database.
  • Use the drop-down menus to filter these publications by Animal Type, Setting, and/or Topic.
  • Clicking on a parent category (e.g., Rodent) will include publications relating to all the items in that category (e.g., Chinchilla, Gerbil, Guinea Pig, etc.).
  • You may also add a keyword to further narrow your search.
  • Please note that at this time, only publications dated 2010 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Animal Type and Topic, and only publications dated 2020 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Setting. Most publications older than 2010 can only be searched by keyword. 
Minie, V. A., Petric, R., Ramos-Maciel, S. et al. 2021. Enriched laboratory housing increases sensitivity to social stress in female California mice (Peromyscus californicus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 241, 105381.

Domesticated mice and rats have shown to be powerful model systems for biomedical research, but there are cases in which the biology of species is a poor match for the hypotheses under study. The California...

Buckinx, A., Van Schuerbeek, A., Bossuyt, J. et al. 2021. Exploring refinement strategies for single housing of male C57BL/6JRj mice: Effect of cage divider on stress-related behavior and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis activity. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 15, 743959.

Introduction: Single housing of laboratory mice is a common practice to meet experimental needs, or to avoid intermale aggression. However, single housing is considered to negatively affect animal welfare and may compromise the scientific validity...

DePasquale, C., Kemerer, N., White, N. et al. 2021. The influence of an enriched environment in enhancing recognition memory in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 749746.

Environmental enrichment is used to increase social and physical stimulation for animals in captivity which can lead to enhanced cognition. Fundamental to the positive effect enrichment has on the brain is that it provides opportunities...

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Acacia gum hanging saucer. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(5) (September/October), 50.

This article describes the ingredients, supplies, and directions to make this DIY hanging item, which is great for NHP and swine.

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Busy boxes. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(6) (November/December), 32.

This article describes the ingredients and directions to make this simple DIY destructible enrichment for NHP and swine.

Garcia, T., Brown, C., Margolies, D. et al. 2021. Grinding on a last nerve: Attempting to curb food grinding in mice. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(6) (November/December), 34-36.

Food grinding, or chewing food without ingestion, is a topic of interest in the laboratory animal community. In addition to increased effort needed to deal with this excess waste and provide suitable microenvironment for animals...

Locklear, J., Whiteside, T. E. 2021. Optimal colloidal water gel type and novel placement for frequent travelers. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(6) (November/December), 38-40.

During transportation, animals must have a water source available to prevent dehydration. Some shipping facilities use potatoes whereas, others use colloidal water gels that provide a uniform water source. The problem occurs when colloidal water...

Redaelli, V., Bosi, A., Luzi, F. et al. 2021. Neuroinflammation, body temperature and behavioural changes in CD1 male mice undergoing acute restraint stress: An exploratory study. PLOS ONE 16(11), e0259938.

Background: Animal models used to study pathologies requiring rehabilitation therapy, such as cardiovascular and neurologic disorders or oncologic disease, must be as refined and translationally relevant as possible. Sometimes, however, experimental procedures such as those...

Ratuski, A. S., Makowska, I. J., Dvorack, K. R. et al. 2021. Using approach latency and anticipatory behaviour to assess whether voluntary playpen access is rewarding to laboratory mice. Scientific Reports 11(1), 18683.

Laboratory mice are typically housed in “shoebox" cages that limit the expression of natural behaviours. Temporary access to more complex environments (playpens) may improve their welfare. We aimed to assess if access to playpens is...

Ebel, S. J., Kopp, K. S., Liebal, K. 2020. Object preferences in captive Sumatran orang-utans (Pongo abelii). Behavioural Processes 170, 103993.

While preferences for perceptual features of objects are well studied in humans, little is known about this trait in other great apes. We therefore presented captive Sumatran orang-utans (Pongo abelii) with objects that differed in...

Mertens, S., Gass, P., Palme, R. et al. 2020. Effect of a partial cage dividing enrichment on aggression-associated parameters in group-housed male C57BL/6NCrl mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 224, 104939.

Group-housing is highly important for social animals. Group-housing of male mice in captivity though often leads to aggression with partially disastrous consequences for the animals as well as for the quality of experimental data. In...

McAllister, B. B., Thackray, S. E., Garciá de la Orta, B. K. et al. 2020. Effects of enriched housing on the neuronal morphology of mice that lack zinc transporter 3 (ZnT3) and vesicular zinc. Behavioural Brain Research 379, 112336.

In the central nervous system, certain neurons store zinc within the synaptic vesicles of their axon terminals. This vesicular zinc can then be released in an activity-dependent fashion as an intercellular signal. The functions of...

Zemanova, M. A. 2020. Towards more compassionate wildlife research through the 3Rs principles: Moving from invasive to noninvasive methods. Wildlife Biology 2020(1), no page numbers.

Research in ecology and wildlife biology remains crucial for increasing our knowledge and improving species management and conservation in the midst of the current biodiversity crisis. However, obtaining information on population status often involves invasive...

Watson, H. A study into viable wooden enrichment objects for Syrian hamsters. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 86-88.

Failing to provide hamsters with a method to wear down their teeth can lead to detrimental behaviour such as bar chewing, and health issues, for example, overgrown teeth and tooth loss. However, hamsters use their...

Oralman, T. 2020. Confronting crunching: A refinement for the care of mice with the desire to crunch. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 89-91.

‘Crunching’ is the term often used to describe the abnormal behaviour of mice that habitually crunch their pelleted diet, causing substrate levels to rise as the crumbs settle on the cage floor ultimately burying the...

Mendonça Soares, S., Kirsten, K., Pompermaier, A. et al. 2020. Sex segregation affects exploratory and social behaviors of zebrafish according to controlled housing conditions. Physiology & Behavior 222, 112944.

Zebrafish has become an animal model in research and articles have established ideal conditions for their maintenance. However, little is known regarding the influence of gender and other cues on zebrafish behavior. Thus, here we...

Blok, J., Black, D. A., Petersen, J. et al. 2020. Environmental enrichment rescues visually-mediated behavior in Ten-m3 knockout mice during an early critical period. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 14, 22.

Environmental enrichment (EE) has been shown to promote neural plasticity. Its capacity to induce functional repair in models which exhibit profound sensory deficits due to aberrant axonal guidance has not been well-characterized. Ten-m3 knockout (KO)...

Reinhardt, V. (ed.) 2020. It’s Okay to Cry - Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum [LAREF], Volume V. Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC.

This is the 5th volume of selected discussions that took place on the electronic Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum between February 2016 and December 2019. The forum was created in October 2002; it allows...

Stevens, C., Finnegan, E., Clarkson, J. et al. 2020. Report of the 2019 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(2), 101-111.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 26 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues, and share experiences of...

Krueger, L. D., Thurston, S. E., Kirk, J. et al. 2020. Enrichment preferences of singly housed zebrafish (Danio rerio). JAALAS 59(2), 148–155.

Despite the increasing popularity of zebrafish (Danio rerio) as an animal model, the environmental enrichment preferences of this species have been largely unexplored. We sought to determine the preferences of mature female zebrafish that were...

Larson, M. A. 2020. Alternatives to shipping live mice. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(5) (September/October), 52-54.

Many in the lab animal field are familiar with shipping animals from vendor to investigator, from investigator to vendor, and from investigator to investigator. Sharing mouse models represents being good stewards of our animal resources...

Huang, J., Kayne, P. S. 2020. Buccal swab based genotyping of genetically modified mice. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(5) (September/October), 64-66.

Routine sample collection for genotyping genetically modified animals (rodents) (GMAs) typically includes tail snip, toe clip, or ear biopsy. To decrease the potential pain and distress caused by tissue sample collection for genetic analysis, we...

Rodgers, J. C., Ricart Arbona, R. J., Lieggi, C. et al. 2020. Evaluation of cotton dental rolls as environmental enrichment for mice. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(5) (September/October), 70-71.

Historically, we provided 2 compressed cotton squares for nesting and enrichment. The logistics of managing nesting material distribution, disposal, and costs are major considerations for our program, which provides husbandry to approximately 60,000 rodent cages...

Tilley, C. A., Carreño Gutierrez, H., Sebire, M. et al. 2020. Skin swabbing is a refined technique to collect DNA from model fish species. Scientific Reports 10(1), 18212.

Model fish species such as sticklebacks and zebrafish are frequently used in studies that require DNA to be collected from live animals. This is typically achieved by fin clipping, a procedure that is simple and...

Vogt, M. A., Mertens, S., Serba, S. et al. 2020. The ‘Cage Climber’ - A new enrichment for use in large-dimensioned mouse facilities. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 230, 105078.

Environmental Enrichment has been shown in experimental contexts to have clear and often beneficial effects on animal physiology and behavior. Housing prior to experiments can represent a large proportion of an animal’s living conditions, and...