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. 
Golledge, H., Richardson, C. (Eds.) 2024. The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other Research Animals (9th ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 1040 p.

The latest edition of the seminal reference on the care and management of laboratory and research animals. The newly revised ninth edition of The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other...

Hernández-Arteaga, E., Ågmo, A. 2023. Seminatural environments for rodent behavioral testing: A representative design improving animal welfare and enhancing replicability. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17, 1192213.

The low replicability of scientific studies has become an important issue. One possible cause is low representativeness of the experimental design employed. Already in the 1950’s, Egon Brunswick pointed out that experimental setups ideally should...

Williams, E., Hunton, V., Hosey, G. et al. 2023. The impact of visitors on non-primate species in zoos: A quantitative review. Animals 13(7), 1178.

Visitors are a prominent feature in the lives of zoo animals, and their presence can cause a range of impacts on zoo animals (typically classed as positive, negative or neutral impacts), commonly referred to as...

Brando, S., Norman, M. 2023. Handling and training of wild animals: Evidence and ethics-based approaches and best practices in the modern zoo. Animals 13(14), 2247.

There is an ethical responsibility to provide all animals living in human care with optimal and positive well-being. As animals living in zoos and aquariums frequently interact with their human caregivers as part of their...

Shanazz, K., Nalloor, R., Vazdarjanova, A. 2023. A mild stressor induces short-term anxiety and long-term phenotypic changes in trauma-related behavior in female rats. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17.

IntroductionAnxiety and anxiety-influenced disorders are sexually dimorphic with women being disproportionately affected compared to men. Given the increased prevalence in women and the documented differences in anxiety and trauma behavior between male and female rats...

Molnar, D. L., Vernasco Price, E. J. 2023. Use of a toy soak to maximize staff efficiency in cage wash operations. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 11(2) (March/April), 40-41.

The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals emphasizes that the primary aim of environmental enrichment is to enhance animal well-being. At our facility, at the end of a two-week cycle in a...

Brereton, J. E., Brereton, S. 2023. The effect of basking light provision on sun beetle enclosure use. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(2), 283–288.

The effect of basking light provision on sun beetle enclosure use.

Maganhe, B. L., Andrade, L. S., Camilo, L. de O. et al. 2023. Food-related substrate preference in juveniles seastar Echinaster (Othilia) brasiliensis (Müller & Troschel,1842) in captivity. Zoo Biology 42(5), 675–682.

There are only a few studies that describe the larval development of Echinaster or aspects on culture systems for the genus. For starfishes, the choice of suitable substrates has received special attention since it could...

Neville, V., Lind, J., Mendl, E. et al. 2023. A mapping review of refinements to laboratory rat housing and husbandry. Lab Animal 52(3), 63–74.

Refining the housing and husbandry of laboratory rats is an important goal, both for ethical reasons and to allow better quality research. We conducted a mapping review of 1,017 studies investigating potential refinements of housing...

Quintanilla, B., Diana, A., Salas, M. 2023. Enhancing welfare in a mixed exhibit: The impact of dispersed whole food on activity levels and feeding behaviours of Mexican military macaws and red-billed curassows. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(4), 366–375.

Presenting chopped food in a bowl is a traditional feeding technique in zoos worldwide. However, it may not provide sufficient stimulation for many species to satisfy their behavioural needs. Recent studies suggest that dispersing food...

Stevens, C., Dobbinson, K., Brook, E. et al. 2022. Report of the 2021 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 21(2), 83-91.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 28 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues and share experiences of...

Ergun, D., Taskin, A. 2022. Comparison of some behavioural responses in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) raised in cages enriched with coloured LED lights. Animals 12(18), 2454.

This study examined the effects of exposure to coloured LED lights on some behavioural responses, food and water consumption, and live weight in budgerigars kept in captivity using behavioural tests to compare different lighting conditions...

Vogt, M. E., Riesgo, V. R., Flanigan, K. A. S. et al. 2022. Housing environment affects pubertal onset, anxiety-like behavior, and object interaction in male and female Long Evans rats. JAALAS 61(3), 241-247.

Rodents used for research can be humanely housed in a variety of ways. As such, a vast number of different housing environments are used, but are often not described in research publications. However, many elements...

Varela, M. M. D., Bibay, J. I. A., Ogden, B. E. et al. 2022. Using sterile flocked swabs as an alternative method for rodent health monitoring. JAALAS 61(4), 370-380.

Routine health monitoring is an integral part of managing SPF rodent colonies. In recent years, rack-level environmental sampling has been introduced as an adjunct method or replacement for exposure of sentinel rodents to soiled bedding...

Zevnik, B., Jerchow, B., Buch, T. 2022. 3R measures in facilities for the production of genetically modified rodents. Lab Animal 51(6), 162-177.

Sociocultural changes in the human–animal relationship have led to increasing demands for animal welfare in biomedical research. The 3R concept is the basis for bringing this demand into practice: Replace animal experiments with alternatives where...

Semus, H. 2022. Using restaurant glassware and flatware wash racks for washing water bottles and cage accessories. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(4) (July/August), 32-33.

In the event of an emergency resulting in our automatic watering system being shut off, we identified the need to increase the number of rodent water bottles we have on hand. Once we realized we...

Wilson, C. H., Wyeth, R. C., Spicer, J. I. et al. 2022. Effect of animal stocking density and habitat enrichment on survival and vitality of wild green shore crabs, Carcinus maenas, maintained in the laboratory. Animals 12(21), 2970.

The wide geographic distribution, large size and ease of capture has led to decapod crustaceans being used extensively in laboratory experiments. Recently in the United Kingdom decapod crustaceans were listed as sentient beings, resulting in...

Liew, K.-S., Tan, K., Liew, H. J. et al. 2022. Responses of purple mud crab (Scylla tranquebarica) to various saccharide solutions and the saccharide-coated pelleted feeds. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 257, 105793.

Mud crabs (Scylla spp.) are economically important portunid species for aquaculture in many countries across the Indo-Pacific region. However, there is still no commercial species-specific formulated feed available for mud crabs, and mud crabs generally...

Woods, J. M., Eyer, A., Miller, L. J. 2022. Bird welfare in zoos and aquariums: General insights across industries. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 3(2), 198–222.

Animal welfare is a priority across accredited zoological institutions; however, historically, research has been prioritized for mammals. Bird-focused studies accounted for less than 10% of welfare research in zoos and aquariums over the last ten...

Barabas, A. J., Darbyshire, A. K., Schlegel, S. L. et al. 2022. Evaluation of ambient sound, vibration, and light in rodent housing rooms. JAALAS 61(6), 660–671.

Excessive sound, vibration, and light are detrimental to rodent welfare, yet these parameters are rarely recorded in vivaria. Whether housing environments exceed the suggested thresholds and which specific factors may alter these parameters is generally...

Webb, L. 2021. Drip, drop…drip, drop – How do I make it stop? Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(2) (March/April), 36-38.

Whether you are an animal care/husbandry technician, facility manager, or veterinarian, everyone bemoans a leaky drinking valve (often referred to as a lixit). Leaking drinking valves and flooded cages are a fairly common problem when...

Coleman, K., Shapiro, S. J. (Eds.). 2021. Behavioral Biology of Laboratory Animals (1st ed). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

This 30-chapter volume informs students and professionals about the behavioral biology of animals commonly housed in laboratory and other captive settings. Each species evolved under specific environmental conditions, resulting in unique behavioral patterns, many of...

Sørensen, D., Cloutier, S., Gaskill, B. (Eds.). 2021. Animal-centric Care and Management - Enhancing Refinement in Biomedical Research. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

The concept of the 3Rs (Refinement, Reduction and Replacement) has been used as a framework for improving the welfare of laboratory animals for the last half century. By establishing an animal-centric view on housing and...

Vogt, M. A., Geiger, L. M. J., Härtel, T. et al. 2021. Evaluation of potential sustainable bedding substrates focusing on preference, behavior, and stress physiology in rats—A pilot study. Animals 11(5), 1375.

Ensuring optimal housing conditions for laboratory animals is a crucial prerequisite for high-quality and ethically justifiable in vivo science. In addition to guaranteeing animal welfare and promoting scientific validity, environmental sustainability is also increasingly gaining...

Dickinson, A. 2021. Maximising efficacy of your health monitoring programme. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(3), 255-257.

There are a multitude of health monitoring techniques/ methods available. It can be difficult to know which of these to use and when to use them. This is an attempt to simplify, maximise the efficacy...