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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2014 5:38:36 GMT -5
I always thought that it was strictly caused by too - early neutering but now that I have been reading up on it, I see that light exposure (especially Artificial?) plays a big factor and so does genetics, especially in farm ferrets.
I have Marshall ferrets myself and I was wondering what I can do about the lighting in their room. It's already pretty dark in there most of the day but night, when they play (and I am awake - I work nights so I am nocturnal) the light is on. The day it is quite dark (as I sleep then) as only sunlight is direct through the window during 5pm-6pm. Is this a good set up or a horrid one? Lights are turned on at 9pm and off at 5amish.
If that is bad, could I use black out curtains/dark curtains and tack them loosely on the ceiling to dim out that ceiling light whenever it is on? I already provide lots of dark hidey places and my entire closet is a place for them to play/sleep and is void of any light 24/7. If the light being on at night is bad, I am totally capable of keeping it off at night. I always kept it on because I assumed that since they only get literally 1 hour of direct light in the day, they should need light when it is out time at night but now I am rethinking this since reading about that part on Adrenal.
What are some of you guy's light to dark daily hour ratios? What do you do about your lightings?
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Post by Heather on May 9, 2014 15:51:27 GMT -5
Consider setting up the hours of 'light" exactly what they would get during the day for that time of year. That will help you better control the lighting. The problem that occurs is more often ferrets having access to "daylight" while their people are at work and then playing with artificial light when they get home. This extends their hours of daylight artificially. If you can dark out their room from normal light during the day or put a cover or blanket on their cage while you sleep, this will go a long way in helping you keep their light hours more correct. Providing them with lots of darkened spots also helps.
ciao
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2014 18:18:14 GMT -5
Oh okay, so while I sleep during the day I just cover the window or the cage? One ferret is 100% free roam in the room and the two girls are in a cage while I sleep because they would be finishing their meals (and if left out they would stash it to rot lol). My room is very dark most of the day as the position of my window in this room doesn't allow much, if any, sunlight except a specific hour (5pm - 6pm) as I literally live at the foot of a mountain, I am in it's shadow most of the time. I have tons of hidey holes and condos/boxes but I will totally cover up the girls' cage  When night comes around I always flip the switch on until 5amish - 6pmish. So this "Daylight being at night/ night being at day" time won't mess them up any so long as I provide proper hours and darkness? |
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Post by Sherry on May 10, 2014 8:28:44 GMT -5
Correct. Blackout curtains would be better than a cage cover even, but by providing only the amount of light they would normally get for a given season you will at least have a leg up on adrenal.
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Post by raynebc on Aug 1, 2014 14:07:49 GMT -5
The room my ferrets live in has a west-facing window. To keep the amount of light and heat down, I covered most of the window with flattened cardboard and keep the blinds closed. This still lets some light in so that during the day it's easy to see things. Is the intensity of light as important as amount of light that they get? Would an hour or two of artificial lighting, for evening playtime, per day be too much light for them even if most of the daytime light is filtered?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2014 15:34:10 GMT -5
My baby has the run of house. I got blinds always closed in the bedroom that i put her in at night. Also, i have a dark quilt on the sleeping part of her cage and a blackout curtain on second cage (used to have 3 ferrets). Its always dark in her bedroom. During day she goes back and forth from drawers to bedroom or dark closets of her choosing. I've lined one drawer, which she favors with a dark blue towel. She always favors dark places.
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Post by raynebc on Aug 1, 2014 16:28:08 GMT -5
If too much light is harmful because of decreased melatonin production, and since ferrets sleep most of the day, would it even be better for me to use a curtain during the day to block even more sunlight? I could allow some natural light in when I get home and there should even be some allowance left for a little bit of artificial light in the evening.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2014 17:07:27 GMT -5
Thanx raynbec for bringing this up. You can see daylight thru slats in blinds in my baby's room. Although i got coverings on cage, I'll take some extra precaution and darken room further with curtains.
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Post by Sherry on Aug 1, 2014 18:31:19 GMT -5
What they need is approximately the same amount of light they would get living outdoors. Some of that really SHOULD be natural sunlight where possible.
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Post by raynebc on Aug 1, 2014 18:45:15 GMT -5
That's fine with me, I am just wary about the window since by the time I get home from work the day's heat has reached its peak. I usually play with them a little bit then, let them rest, and then play with them some more in the late evening, by which time it's dark out and artificial light is needed. I'll try to keep artificial lighting to under an hour per day, which when considering the natural lighting being diminished, should hopefully not be excessive.
I've read that many people use the Des implant as a preventive measure for adrenal disease, is there any merit in providing an oral melatonin supplement to reduce the negative effect of extra light exposure? Adrenal disease took my first ferret away from me, and every little bit I can do to prevent it from happening again is worth my consideration.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2014 19:23:22 GMT -5
I'm glad someone posted about this. I have been researching the same recently as well. So, essentially it boils down to getting too much daylight and mucking up their natural cycle? Or is artificial light just bad? I live in a basement apartment, which gets more light than most do, but it's still 90% coming in from a bay door only. So dark hours during sleep isn't hard, but daylight for them is hard to give by the time we are home from work. Only time they get outside is on my days off.
What about those SAD lamps people use in the winter time? Aren't they sort of meant to simulate natural light? I've read people use them for dogs, but no word on ferrets or cats.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2014 20:20:16 GMT -5
Just provide a dark hidey place he/she can go to for sleeping. Since the top of my cage is a solid floor except for tunnel exit, i put fluffy sheets in there for her to burrow in as well.. Some dark sheets would be great, or you could do the bottom of cage. Just as long as there is some dark place to sleep when they are ready for dark time.
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Post by Sherry on Aug 2, 2014 23:42:05 GMT -5
Unfortunately artificial melatonin was proven to be completely ineffective as an adrenal preventative.
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Post by raynebc on Aug 3, 2014 4:59:23 GMT -5
Darn. Do ferrets over-produce melatonin if they get less than a natural light cycle, and if so, is that harmful to the ferrets? Is the amount of needed light more dependent on amount of time exposed to ANY light, or is the intensity of the light just as important?
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Post by Sherry on Aug 3, 2014 9:33:27 GMT -5
The length is very important. Some of our members had their intact ferrets getting about ONE hour more light in the winter than would have been normal and it actually brought them back into rut artificially.
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