Search our 3Rs resource library

Use the filters below to narrow down our resources to those relevant to your role, the model you are interested in, or by topic area. Filters are best used by combining two or more to narrow down the results.

Audience

Resource type

Resource topic

Model

126 results

Grimace scale: Rabbit

Details of the Rabbit Grimace Scale, including a poster for display in laboratory rooms and corridors.

Hard copy | Tool

Screenshot of the top third of the rabbit grimace scale poster showing the orbital tightening facial action units

Zebrafish welfare

Guidance, information and recommendations for those working with zebrafish.

Guidance

Blood sampling

Techniques for blood sampling in laboratory animal species to ensure the most appropriate technique is chosen.

Overview

Five needles with empty syringes on a pale blue background

Blood sampling: Rat

Information on techniques for sampling blood in the rat, covering non-surgical, surgical and terminal techniques.

Guidance

A brown and white rat in a cage, with an icon of a needle and syringe on a yellow background in the corner of the image.

Blood sampling: Vascular catheters

Guidance on catherisation for blood sampling in laboratory animals.

Guidance

Two vascular catheters of different sizes, with an icon of a needle and syringe on a yellow background in the corner of the image.

Mouse handling

Guidance on non-aversive methods for handling mice. Includes tutorials, FAQs and tips for implementation.

Overview

Three black mice, one of them is being handled with a clear plastic tunnel

Minimising aggression in group-housed male mice

Recommendations for reducing aggression between group-housed male mice.

Guidance

A mouse with wounds on its back, the result of mouse aggression.

Skin swabbing for DNA sampling of zebrafish

Learn more about skin swabbing as a welfare refinement, and how to establish a protocol for skin swabbing in your laboratory.

Guidance

a zebrafish is held in a hand net and swabbed.

Handling and restraint: General principles

Guidance on best practices in handling and restraint for mice, rats and other laboratory rodents.

Guidance

Black mouse sitting on open hands. The technician is wearing a blue coveralls and blue medical grade gloves.

Blood sampling: Ferret

Approaches for sampling blood in the ferret, covering surgical and terminal techniques.

Guidance

Close up of a brown and white ferret's face, with an icon of a needle and syringe on a yellow background in the corner of the image.

Chair training of non-human primates

Survey of the approaches used for training monkeys for chair restraint.

Guidance

Housing and husbandry: Rabbit

Information to help refine the housing and husbandry of the laboratory rabbit.

Guidance

Two white rabbits in a floor pen. The cage is grey and you can see sawdust and straw on the floor. The closest rabbit is sitting on a raised ledge looking towards a food hopper which contains hay and carrots. The other rabbit can be seen exploring the floor towards the back.

Housing and husbandry: Cat

Information to help refine the housing and husbandry of the laboratory cat.

Guidance

A technician with cats in a play area. The technician is wearing a white protective suit, mask, hair net and laboratory gloves. She is holding a piece of string which one of the cats is rearing up to play with. One cat sits on a shelf to the left, another is walking along the floor looking at the camera.

Housing and husbandry: Rat

Information to help refine the housing and husbandry of the laboratory rat.

Guidance

A rat accepting a treat, in this case a cereal cheerio snack, from a technician. The rat sits on top of a housing box within a cage (the lid is open). The technician is reaching in with a gloved hand, and the black and white lister hooded rat is reaching up to take the treat.

Rat playpens

The positive impact playpens have on laboratory rat welfare, and guidance on how to set one up in your institution.

Guidance

A tall cage which has been used to create a rat playpen. There are three different tiers with ladders to allow the rats to climb up between each one. A number of white rats can be seen moving between the different levels. Enrichment and play objects are available on each level including an cardboard box that used to hold laboratory gloves, coloured balls, tubes, a wheel and a raised platform on the top level with some bedding material.

Housing and husbandry: Guinea pig

Information to help refine the housing and husbandry of the laboratory guinea pig.

Guidance

White guinea pigs in floor pen. Each enclosure holds around three to five guinea pigs and is separated with clear perspex partitions so the animals can see each other. Each enclosure has a silver box to create shade and shelter. The floor is covered in sawdust and straw.

Sharing and archiving of GA mice

Guidance document on opportunities to reduce and refine the use of GA mice through cryopreservation and sharing.

Guidance

The front cover of the "Sharing & archiving of genetically altered mice" document on a green background.

External link

Environmental monitoring for rodent health surveillance

A webinar exploring how environmental monitoring can replace the use of sentinel animals for monitoring mouse colonies for the presence of pathogens.

Webinar and video

Webinar title slide: Environmental monitoring for rodent health surveillance

Housing and husbandry: Hamster

Information to help refine the housing and husbandry of the laboratory hamster.

Guidance

Two hamsters in a cage. The floor is covered in sawdust. One hamster is towards the right hand side, the other is in the middle, emerging from a cardboard tube (enrichment). Both hamsters are red and light brown in colour.

External link

Non-aversive handling of mice: the evidence base

The evidence supporting the use of tunnel and cup handling to improve animal welfare and scientific outcomes (presented at AALAS 2021).

Webinar and video

Webinar title slide: Non-aversive handling of mice, the evidence base

Grimace scale: Rat

Details of the Rat Grimace Scale, including a poster for display in laboratory rooms and corridors.

Hard copy | Tool

Screenshot of the top third of the rat grimace scale poster showing the orbital tightening facial action units

Housing and husbandry: Mouse

Information to help refine the housing and husbandry of the laboratory mouse.

Guidance

Grimace scale: Mouse

Details of the Mouse Grimace Scale, including a poster for display in laboratory rooms and corridors.

Hard copy | Tool

Screenshot of the top third of the mouse grimace scale poster showing the orbital tightening facial action units

External link

Using microfluidics to eliminate surgical embryo transfer in mice

10 years of CRACK IT webinar: An IVF micro microfluidic device for non-surgical embryo transfer to generate transgenic mice.

Webinar and video