From:
Steve
Date: 2002-01-06 17:36:00 UTC
Subject: [Ferret-Health-list] Re: Photoperiods and sleeping
quarters
Hi Guys,
I have been buying Melatonin in 3 mg capsules and I divide
each one into 1 mg dosages which I then mix with ½ of
nutrical and give it to them at 2:00 PM daily. Every one of my
little guys that are suspected of having adrenal problems have
been on their best behavior (less antagonistic) and after a
few weeks their hair comes growing back (usually the guard
hair first) but it the hair loss is acute it is sometimes not
the same color it was before they lost it. After 5 to 6 weeks
the vulva starts decreasing in size (if its a female) and in
two months you would never know there was a problem. We use
this treatment in our geriatric crowd as well as with lupron
treatment. It should not be used in place of surgery except
when an operation is out of the question.
Cheryl and Steve
-----Original Message-----
From: sukieferret [mailto:sukiecrandall@telocity.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2002 9:22 PM
To: Ferret-Health-list@yahoogroups.com
quarters
Reduction in light causes the body to produce meltonin, and
the more the reduction the greater the production. I know that
in humans it takes a while for the body to "get up steam" so
for humans in one study in industrialized nations peak
melatonin production was at about 3 a.m. I do NOT know how
long a ferret needs to be shielded from light to wind up
producing a reasonable amount of melatonin, and they do tend
to get up about every 4 hours or so to go to the bathroom and
catch a meal. The production of melatonin is very affected by
adding light, so *IF* it takes them a few hours to get
production up there where it should be then they come out into
light to eat or go to the bathroom that would mean they might
have start all over again. I could be completely wrong, but I
suspect that many of these specifics just aren't known for
ferrets at this point.
Like you, we simply can't afford to have a ferret-only room
since we live in an expensive neck of the woods (but wish we
could), so we have a large cage, a lot of black covers, black
curtains, and bedding that gets dark inside, too. They spend
the night hours in the well-covered cages (which makes sense
with our crew in case a fire should break out anywhere, too).
It's not ideal, but it's better than the alternative.
I think that the photoperiod mention Mike made may be from a
Judi Bell letter that vet had me carry to the FML once. Will
have to try to see if I can find it in the archives there.
In rat studies it was found that a small amount of light much
reduces the melatonin production (esp. of green or blue
colored light). *IF memory serves* there is a great
difference between a tiny bit of light and total darkness in
terms of melatonin production, but it's still worth providing
darkness in whichever ways and amounts that you can at this
stage.
Since ferrets are descended from burrow dwelling animals which
were most active at dusk and dawn (crepuscular activity) their
adaptations are most likely for very little light.
Not a vet...
> Ok, let's suppose my ferrets sleep in a total-darkness nest
(they do).
> Now suppose they come out to play at say, 10pm, when the
house lights
> are on.
>
> Does this light at 10pm affect the photoperiod their bodies
are
> sensing, or does the time they spend sleeping in the
darkness during > the day make up for it?
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