Guidance on the housing and care of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis)

The refinement of all aspects of the husbandry, care and use of laboratory animals is important for many reasons: legal, ethical, scientific and not least animal welfare. It is increasingly being demonstrated that good animal welfare is essential to produce good scientific results. Refinement encompasses both the reduction of suffering and the  improvement of animal welfare. This can be achieved through the development and subsequent application of comprehensive guidelines for every stage of animal care and use, always striving to define optimal standards and protocols. Amphibians have been a relatively neglected group in this respect, and is often given the briefest, if any, mention in handbooks for care and management of laboratory animals. There is a belief that Xenopus laevis frogs are hardy and robust, capable of tolerating a range of environmental conditions and experimental procedures. Contents: 1 Introduction; 2 Background information on Xenopus laevis; 3 Supply and transport; 4 Housing and care; 5 Scientific procedures; 6 Training of animal care staff and users; 7 Conclusions; 8 Summary of recommendations; 9 Future areas for focus; 10 References.

84 pages. May be read online or downloaded as a PDF (564KB). There is a supplementary document to this guidance, entitled African clawed frogs: Good practice for housing and care: Supplementary resources for members of local ethical review processes, Third Edition, published in 2011, 7 pages.

Price: Online: Free of charge