From:
Linda Iroff
Date: 2006-04-25 21:40:08 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] re: practical aspects of complete darkness
To: Ferret Health List <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Katie wrote:
> a. Is natural light just as important, or does complete darkness
> for enough
> hours along with artificial light do the trick (such as in a room
> with no
> significant daylight windows)?
I don't know for preventing adrenal disease, but for controlling the
breeding cycle, artificial lights are sufficient. I just found that
that the black-footed ferret breeding programs use plain old
florescent lights to mimic the outdoor conditions year round. I think
I've heard that's what Marshalls uses too.
> b. Is it worth it to spend a lot of extra money (I am happy to do
> so if it
> will really help) to get high quality "black out" window treatments
> to keep
> light out? Our new house is in a neighborhood with lots of outside
> lights
> around, so I wonder if such window treatments really work.....or
> does a small amount
> of light still typically come in and mess the whole thing up?
I've heard that small amounts of light can be significant, especially
if at the short end of the spectrum (blues and greens). Covering the
cage and providing dark nest boxes and enclosed bedding may be easier
than completely blocking windows, but that's guessing on my part.
> c. For those of us with regular rooms for our ferrets, who are
> thus far
> symptom free - what is really the best way to prevent this
> problem? Black out
> curtains, true blocking barriers to completely cover windows - it
> would look
> ugly but maybe it would work, or a big blanket to cover their cages
> at night?????
Melatonin implants every spring and fall may help to prevent adrenal
disease. It is probably easier than putting your ferrets to bed in a
dark cage/room at 5pm and not getting them up until 8am in the winter!
Linda Iroff
International Ferret Congress
http://www.ferretcongress.org
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