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. 
Enser, S. 2016. Comparison of housing and welfare of group housed rabbits. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 77-79.

This poster is based on welfare improvements gained from group housing rabbits in floor pens in the new Antibody Production Facility with a focus on development, behaviours and environmental enrichment in both male and female...

Brien, M. L., Webb, G. J., McGuinness, K. A. et al. 2016. Effect of housing density on growth, agonistic behaviour, and activity in hatchling saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 184, 141-149.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of density on growth rate, agonistic behaviour, activity and use of space by hatchling C. porosus in captivity. Hatchling C. porosus were raised in identical...

Buijs, S., Vangeyte, J., Tuyttens, F. A. M. 2016. Effects of communal rearing and group size on breeding rabbits’ post-grouping behaviour and its relation to ano-genital distance. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 182, 53-60.

Group housing is becoming the standard for many farm animal species, as it is seen as a more welfare friendly way of keeping gregarious animals. Aggression between female breeding rabbits currently obstructs the implementation of...

Bozicovich, T. F. M., Moura, A. S. A. M. T., Fernandes, S. et al. 2016. Effect of environmental enrichment and composition of the social group on the behavior, welfare, and relative brain weight of growing rabbits. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 182, 72-79.

The objective of the study was to investigate if environmental enrichment and the composition of the social group would affect the behavior and relative brain weight of growing rabbits. Rabbits (72 males and 72 females)...

Franchi, V., Aleuy, O. A., Tadich, T. A. 2016. Fur chewing and other abnormal repetitive behaviors in chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigera), under commercial fur-farming conditions. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 11, 60-64.

Fur chewing is a behavioral disorder frequently reported in chinchillas kept for fur-farming purposes. Rodents kept in barren cages usually develop some form of abnormal repetitive behavior, which can indicate a past or present welfare...

Winnicker, C., Gaskill, B., Garner, J. P. et al. 2016. A Guide to the Behavior & Enrichment of Laboratory Rodents. Charles River Laboratories.

Covering species-typical behavior as well as abnormal/malfunctional behavior and stereotypes observed in mice, rats, hamsters and gerbils, this is an excellent resource for those looking to implement or enhance an existing behavioral husbandry and enrichment...

Buijs, S., Maertens, L., Hermans, K. et al. 2015. Behaviour, wounds, weight loss and adrenal weight of rabbit does as affected by semi-group housing. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 172, 44-51.

Group housing is often assumed to improve the welfare of gregarious species. Whether this is actually the case depends on the advantages (e.g. more opportunity for social and locomotor behaviour) and disadvantages (e.g. increased fighting...

Takabayashi, S., Katoh, H. 2015. Noninvasive genotyping of common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) by fingernail PCR. Primates 56(3), 235-240.

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a New World primate that is a useful model for medical studies. In this study, we report a convenient, reliable, and noninvasive procedure to genotype a living common marmoset...

Buijs, S., Tuyttens, F. A. M. 2015. Evaluating the effect of semi-group housing of rabbit does on their offspring's fearfulness: Can we use the open-field test? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 162, 58-66.

Breeding does are usually housed one doe per cage, but there is an increased interest in (semi-)group housing systems designed to improve welfare. However, there is a lack of information on how such systems actually...

Bayne, K. A., Beaver, B. V., Mench, J. A. et al. 2015. Laboratory animal behavior. In: Laboratory Animal Medicine, 3rd edition. Fox, J. G., Anderson, L., Otto, G., et al. (eds). Elsevier, Inc., Amsterdam, NL. pp. 1617-1651.

The study of laboratory animal behavior has increased steadily over the last decade, with expanding emphasis on a variety of commonly used species. In the United States, this trend was initially focused on species for...

Buijs, S., Hermans, K., Maertens, L. et al. 2014. Effects of semi-group housing and floor type on pododermatitis, spinal deformation, and bone quality in rabbit does. Animal 8(10), 1728-1734.

The most common housing system for reproduction rabbits, individual cage housing on a wire floor, is increasingly scrutinized because of its potential detrimental impact on animal welfare. We compared three types of housing: (1) individual...

Dorman, B., Weir, D. E. 2014. From swinging single to peacefully cohabitating: A DIY way to managing rabbit socialization without breaking your budget. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 563 (Abstract #P54).

The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals requires that all animals, without veterinary or study exemptions, be socially housed. Our current caging only allows enough floor space to house one large rabbit...

Cikanek, S. J., Nockold, S., Brown, J. L. et al. 2014. Evaluating group housing strategies for the ex-situ conservation of harlequin frogs (Atelopus spp) using behavioral and physiological indicators. PLOS ONE 9(2), e90218.

We have established ex situ assurance colonies of two endangered Panamanian harlequin frogs, Atelopus certus and Atelopus glyphus, but observed that males fought with each other when housed as a group. Housing frogs individually eliminated...

McCrossin, F. G. 2014. The effect of pair housing on the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis). American Journal of Primatology 76(S1), 54. (37th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #52)

Aye-ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) are thought to be solitary animals and are often housed alone in captivity. However, for all primates sociality is known to play a major role in psychological well-being. Captive animals can develop...

Rommers, J. M., Reuvekamp, B. J. F., Gunnink, H. et al. 2014. Effect of hiding places, straw and territory on aggression in group-housed rabbit does. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 157, 117-126.

Group-housing of rabbit does may be preferred from welfare point of view. However, group-housing causes agonistic behaviour which may cause severe injuries. Severe injuries may be prevented by offering hiding places for attacked does. Providing...

Lidfors, L., Wichman, A., Ewaldsson, B. et al. 2014. Enriched cages for groups of laboratory male rats and their effects on behaviour, weight gain and adrenal glands. Laboratory Animals 48, 36-49.

We investigated if there were any negative effects on the behaviour and physiology of rats housed in groups of five in two types of enriched cages and compared them with paired-housed rats housed in traditional...

Hori, M., Yamada, K., Ohnishi, J. et al. 2014. Tickling during adolescence alters fear-related and cognitive behaviors in rats after prolonged isolation. Physiology & Behavior 131, 62-67.

Social interactions during adolescence are important especially for neuronal development and behavior. We recently showed that positive emotions induced by repeated tickling could modulate fear-related behaviors and sympatho-adrenal stress responses. In the present study, we...

Krügel, U., Fischer, J., Bauer, K. et al. 2014. The impact of social isolation on immunological parameters in rats. Archives of Toxicology 88(3), 853-855.

In various toxicological studies, single housing of rodents is preferred to standardize for regulatory purposes. However, housing conditions can have severe, often underestimated, impact on results in toxicological examinations. As different husbandry conditions have been...

Sharp, J., Azar, T., Lawson, D. 2014. Effects of a complex housing environment on heart rate and blood pressure of rats at rest and after stressful challenges. JAALAS 53(1), 52-60.

Housing enrichment for rodents continues to be a discussion topic within the animal care community. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which a complex housing environment affects heart rate, blood...

Turner, P. V., Sunohara-Neilson, J., Ovari, J. et al. 2014. Effects of single compared with pair housing on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation and low-dose heroin place conditioning in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. JAALAS 53(2), 161-167.

Whether social isolation of adult rats under standard laboratory conditions produces significant long-term alterations in behavior and physiology is unclear. In the present study, male Sprague–Dawley rats were singly or paired-housed for 10 wk. During...

Abou-Ismail, U. A., Darwish, R. A., Ramadan, S. G. A. 2014. Should cages of laboratory rats be enriched physically or socially? Global Veterinaria 13(4), 570-582.

Experiments of environmental enrichment usually compare between group-housed rats in enriched and unenriched cages or between group-housed rats in enriched cages and single-housed rats in unenriched cages. This bias is mainly to maximize the chance...

Szendrö, Z., Mikó, A., Odermatt, M. et al. 2013. Comparison of performance and welfare of single-caged and group-housed rabbit does. Animal 7(3), 463-468.

Although rabbit does are generally single housed on rabbit farms worldwide, it has been suggested by some specialists and recommendation of organic rabbit production systems that group housing of does is more comfortable and similar...

Bergman, T. J., Sheehan, M. J. 2013. Social knowledge and signal in primates. American Journal of Primatology 75(7), 683-694.

Primates are notable for having a rich and detailed understanding of their social environment and there has been great interest in the evolution and function of social knowledge in primates. Indeed, primates have been shown...

Reinhardt, V. (ed.) 2013. Compassion Makes a Difference - Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum [LAREF], Volume III. Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC.

This is the third volume of discussions that took place on the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum (LAREF). This forum is dedicated to the exchange of personal experiences of refining the conditions under which...

Young, L., Lin, R. 2013. Strategies to in increase compatibility among pair-housed rabbits. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 667 (Abstract #P168).

The eighth edition of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (the Guide) states that appropriate social interaction among members of the same species is essential for normal animal development and wellbeing...