From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2009-11-27 23:16:04 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Re: Deslorelin vs spaying
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
> I know that they have periods of activity during the night but they
> are still in a dark room with no light at all (except moonlight)
>
Light does not have to be artificial to reduce melatonin output (hence
the normal effects of daylight shifts in beginning fertility cycles)
and it is suspected that animals with a long history of burrow
dwelling and either ancestral crepuscular (dawn and dusk activity as
with ferret ancestors) or nocturnal activity may be more easily
affected.
In studies on various species it takes very little in the way of light
to reduce melatonin output, whether through longer days shortening
periods of darkness or through ambient or intruding light (natural or
artificial), with the blue and green wavelengths having the most
effect. Remember light pollution, too. (See places like
http://www.lightpollution.it/dmsp/artbri.html )
Much of Europe and the U.S. suffers badly from that so that what is
now thought of as "dark" at night is nowhere near as dark as being in
places with less light pollution, for example, the jungle around the
Voltzberg pluton dome. Japan also has some nasty light pollution
levels. Australia has far less ditto much of South America, Africa
and swaths of Asia.
Light pollution has actually led to a subset of ecology called
Scotobiology which studies the affects of darkness and loss of darkness.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
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