Message Number: SG16832 | New FHL Archives Search
From: brettm@uga.edu
Date: 2006-03-21 13:36:16 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] RE: darkness/natural sunlight
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com

Author wrote:
> I know there is much discussion about ferrets getting total darkness if
> possible, and that for many, it is not possible or practical.

In other species that are strongly photoperiodic, such as chickens, the key factor is the length of *continuous* darkness, not the length or type of light. If the dark period is interrupted by even a few seconds of artificial light, that's enough to mess up the laying cycle of hens.

So, I would say that you don't need to trouble yourself about letting in natural sunlight. Just make sure that their period of total darkness is the right length for the current season, and is not interrupted. I don't think wild polecats are big sun-worshippers, anyway, since they probably do most of their hunting at dawn and dusk and lay up in their burrows during the day. Just my humble opinion, subject to revision by any new facts established by research.

Brett

*SLMW 1.0* "I've got a ferret sticking up my nose!" -- J. Cleese





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