From:
Jen Phillips
Date: 2002-01-09 00:30:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Digest Number 543 (Photoperiods)
Hi Chris,
I am definitely finding out how much it does affect them. Our ferrets
shedding cycle seemed all wrong before we changed the lighting they were
getting. This past summer all of them were chunkier and had a thicker coat
than I thought they should have. Then as winter approached, they started
thinning out and their coats got thinner as well. It was like they were
getting completely backwards with the season.
It was this strange cycle that got me interested on the importance of light
for them. We didn't realize how off schedule they were until this winter
because last year they were still in what I think was their baby coats (we
have only been owned by ferts for a little less than 2 years). They didn't
go through any real coat changes until this past summer, and that's when we
realized how off they were.
I really think the red lighting could turn out to be a really good thing
for them. I'm no expert, but I've seen how much it seems to be helping our
ferts get on track. And having them in a ferret proofed room that's all
theirs, having a red light is no problem. It's nice since our fert room is
a popular place (any time we get company, they just have to visit the fert
room), so in the evening we don't need a bright light on in there to see them.
>Hi Jen, keeping the blinds open all the time and using red light at
>night will give the ferrets a good idea of the time of year, as were I
>am it starts to get light around 4am in the summer and 7 in the winter.
>Just moving my jills from an east facing room to a west facing room put
>the breeding cycle back by 4 weeks, that shows how much the light
>affects the ferrets. Chris.
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Happy Dookin'
Jen, Mike & the Ferrets
Loki, Fria, Jamocha, Vivi, & Duke
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