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. 
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...

Martinic, G. 2021. Husbandry and healthcare of the Olive python (Liasis olivaceus). Animal Technology and Welfare 20(1), 44-50.

The article describes the care of the Olive python (Liasis olivaceus) including information on housing, feeding, handling, as well as the general health care of these animals. Some of the information presented is derived from...

Chmurska-Gąsowska, M., Sowińska, N., Pałka, S. et al. 2021. Non-invasive measurement of thyroid hormones in domestic rabbits. Animals 11(5), 1194.

Thyroid hormones are essential for metabolism, energy homeostasis and reproduction. Hormones can be measured in various biological source materials: blood, feces, urine, saliva and others. The aim of our study was to verify usefulness of...

Borgmans, G., Palme, R., Sannen, A. et al. 2021. Routine handling does not lead to chronic stress in captive green anole (Anolis carolinensis). Animal Welfare 30(2), 145-154.

Routine handling has been shown to affect stress levels in a variety of animal species. This could result in a general decrease in welfare and may confound the results of scientific experiments or observations on...

Zemanova, M. A. 2021. Noninvasive genetic assessment is an effective wildlife research tool when compared with other approaches. Genes 12(11), 1672.

Wildlife research has been indispensable for increasing our insight into ecosystem functioning as well as for designing effective conservation measures under the currently high rates of biodiversity loss. Genetic and genomic analyses might be able...

Fusco, A., Douglas, H., Barba, A. et al. 2021. V-Gel® guided endotracheal intubation in rabbits. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 684624.

Background: General anesthesia in rabbits is associated with higher morbidity and mortality relative to other mammalian species commonly anesthetized. Unique challenges related to endotracheal intubation (ETI) in rabbits contribute to this risk. Objective: To improve...

Edes, A. N., Brand, C. M. 2021. Age, sex, and inflammatory markers predict chronic conditions, cardiac disease, and mortality among captive western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Primates 62(6), 931-943.

In humans, inflammatory markers predict health risks. As great apes experience many similar conditions, measuring inflammation may provide valuable health information. We examined four serum inflammatory markers in zoo-housed gorillas (n = 48): albumin, CRP, IL-6, and...

Bruce, H., Brennan, M. 2021. Does using an endotracheal tube or a supraglottic airway device result in better unassisted ventilation in rabbits? Veterinary Record 189(7), 289-290.

Both endotracheal tubes and supraglottic airway devices appear to provide adequate unassisted ventilation in anaesthetised rabbits. However, it is highly recommended that a capnograph is used with both airway devices to monitor ventilation changes, especially...

Ramont, M., Leahy, M., Cronin, K. A. 2021. The welfare of domestic goats (Capra hircus) in a zoo-based animal-visitor interaction program. Animal Behavior and Cognition 8(4), 493–506.

We investigated whether the welfare of domestic goats in an animal-visitor interaction experience at a zoo was affected by the presence and behavior of visitors. We considered how the number of visitors in the goats’...

Byrnes, E. E., Lear, K. O., Morgan, D. L. et al. 2020. Respirometer in a box: Development and use of a portable field respirometer for estimating oxygen consumption of large‐bodied fishes. Journal of Fish Biology 96(4), 1045-1050.

Respirometry has become the standard method for measuring the metabolic rate of fishes. Traditionally, respirometry has required the fish to be kept in captivity and tested under controlled conditions; however, many species do not readily...

Boers, K. L., Allender, M. C., Novak, L. J. et al. 2020. Assessment of hematologic and corticosterone response in free-living eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) at capture and after handling. Zoo Biology 39(1), 13-22.

Hematology is a common tool for wildlife health assessments. Manual leukocyte counts are required in reptiles, however, disagreement between quantification methods has been observed in some chelonians. This study determined agreement between two methods of...

Unwin, S. L., Saunders, R. A., Blackwell, E.-J., et al. 2020. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial investigating the value of Pet Remedy in ameliorating fear of handling of companion rabbits. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 36, 54-64.

Rabbits are popular companion animals. There are numerous welfare issues affecting the majority of the population, including the fact that most rabbits are fearful when handled. Pet Remedy ™ (Unex Designs) is an herbal product...

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...

Hosking, A., Martinic, G. 2020. The care of the Children’s Python (Antaresia childreni). Animal Technology and Welfare 19(2), 118-122.

This article describes the care of the Children’s python (Antaresia childreni). It includes information on housing, feeding, handling, as well as the general health care of these animals. The information presented is derived from Standard...

Hosking, A., Martinic, G. 2020. The care of Central and Pygmy bearded dragons. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(2), 125-130.

This article describes the care of central bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) as well as Pygmy bearded dragons (Pogona henrylawsoni). It includes information on housing, feeding, handling and sexing technique, as well as the general health...

LaFleur, R. A., Williams-Fritze, M. J. 2020. Now hear this: Caring for chinchillas in research. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(5) (September/October), 8-12.

This article describes the authors’ experience with the housing, social housing, husbandry, handling, and environmental enrichment of chinchillas in laboratories.

Baskir, E. A., Kucharski, S., Powell, D. M. 2020. Chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) behavioral responses to a visual signal preceding handling. Zoo Biology 39(6), 391-396.

Zoos use ambassador animals in educational programs featuring close contact with humans. Chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigera) at the Saint Louis Zoo are retrieved for programs by a keeper wearing brown handling gloves, but green cleaning gloves...

Cloutier Barbour, C., Danforth, M. D., Murphy, H. et al. 2020. Monitoring great ape heart health through innovative electrocardiogram technology: Training methodologies and welfare implications. Zoo Biology 39(6), 443-447.

Assessing and treating cardiovascular disease (or heart disease) is a growing concern for institutions housing great apes, as it is a major cause of mortality in all four taxa managed in human care. As part...

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...

Tomasello, D. L., Sive, H. 2020. Noninvasive multielectrode array for brain and spinal cord local field potential recordings from live zebrafish larvae. Zebrafish 17(4), 271-277.

Zebrafish are an important and expanding experimental system for brain research. We describe a noninvasive electrophysiology technique that can be used in living larvae to measure spontaneous activity in the brain and spinal cord simultaneously...

Stockley, V. R., Wilkinson, A., Burman, O. H. P. 2020. How to handle your dragon: Does handling duration affect the behaviour of bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps)? Animals 10(11), 2116.

Reptiles are popular as pets and it is, therefore, important to understand how different aspects of housing and husbandry impact on their behaviour and welfare. One potential cause of stress in captive reptiles is interaction...

McIntosh, M. K., Armitage-Brown, B., Levy, R. 2019. Refinements of equipment and methodology to reduce risk during pole-guided chair transfer of nonhuman primates. JAALAS 58(4), 462-468.

Neurophysiologic studies of NHP commonly involve their transfer from a housing enclosure to a laboratory by using a mobile chair. This transfer should be performed in a manner that is safe and minimizes stress for...

McKenzie, D. J., Sadoul, B., Geffroy, B. 2019. Measuring cortisol, the major stress hormone in fishes. Journal of Fish Biology 94(4), 540-555.

Stress in teleosts is an increasingly studied topic because of its interaction with growth, reproduction, immune system and ultimately fitness of the animal. Whether it is for evaluating welfare in aquaculture, adaptive capacities in fish...

Cox, R. J., Nol, P., Ellis, C. K. et al. 2019. Research with agricultural animals and wildlife. ILAR Journal 60(1), 66-73.

In fiscal year 2016, agricultural animals such as swine, sheep, goats, and cattle represented 10% of the 820 812 animals used in USDA-regulated research. In addition to traditional agricultural animals, research studies using captive wildlife...

Stevens, C. 2019. Refining handling for small laboratory fishes. Animal Technology and Welfare 18(3), 191-193.

Fishes in captivity, such as those used in laboratory research, may experience handling on a regular basis. In the laboratory, handling is usually done with dip-nets, and involves pursuit, confinement and capture and removal of...