Ferrets & Light Cycles

I have been doing research on light cycles and ferrets; specifically on the possible link to adrenal problems caused by un-natural light cycles.

Some of us have ferret rooms with nice large windows that let nature cycle the light; many do not.

From my research not only do the number of hours they are given light affect obvious things that we can see like weight gain/loss shedding/new coats, but also things that we can not.

In our busy lives we are no longer controlled by the rise and set of the sun. We have electric lights. Is this modern convenience a risk to our ferrets? Perhaps...

In nature the number of daylight hours increase and decrease slowly. In the spring daylight increases by minutes each day and in fall starts to decrease by minutes. When we keep our ferrets under artificial lighting, we extend their normal daylight hours "tricking" their body into thinking it is summer. Even if we provide dark areas for sleeping, ferrets come out to go potty or eat every few hours. In most homes they are exposed to artificial light at that time. If the production of melatonin is a reaction to darkness and builds slowly during the night do these eat/potty ventures “reset” that production?

For several years I raised Persian cats. This all made sense to me since I knew I could control the number of white light hours a female was exposed to and bring her into heat in the dead of winter, or decrease the number of white light hours in the middle of summer and bring a cat into a winter "show coat".

For a very long time zoos have used red lights in the nocturnal animal areas during the day to simulate night time so that the animals would be active when the zoo was open and had visitors. They reversed the day/night cycle providing the day sleep time actually at night when the zoo is closed.

Since my ferrets are free roam in part of my house I have taken a similar approach. I have un-shaded windows so sun comes in as soon as it rises and if the humans need light after dark, I use red lights. Many of us cannot spend time with our beloved fuzzies during natural daylight hours especially in winter when the daylight cycle is so short. The red lights let us humans see.

While the connection has not been scientifically proven to help prevent adrenal problems, it is being studied. I am only suggesting that it is one possible connection and we who are owned by fuzzies may want to research the topic.

A good place to start would be the FHL archives and the FML archives. I have found them to be very informative.