Those who live with a ferret should take into account an issue that is fundamental for its development and that, if neglected, can cause our pet serious health problems. It is the photoperiod. Although humans are animals that have been losing this habit, ferrets, as photoperiodic animals that they are, govern their vital functions by the hours of light and darkness.
If the ferret lives in a permanent state of luminosity, its organism will not be able to manufacture melatonina substance that controls their hormone level, and whose deficiency can lead to serious medical problems such as hyperplasia of the adrenal glands, or, in other words, disorders in sexual development which, on more serious occasions, can lead to cardiac arrhythmias and dehydration, and even cancer.
Precautions
In the wild, the ferret hides in its burrow and the sun serves as a clock to its own biology. But what about ferrets living in a house? Light, even if we don’t realize it, keeps altering our rhythms everywhere: not only electric light, but also television, computers, etc.
To alleviate this constant brightness, try to have a cover or a blanket for your ferret’s cage, taking care, however, that it can breathe. Another option is to place boxes, houses, cubes or tubes as a cave for them to rest. It is also useful to lower the blinds of the place where you are.
Ferrets need 12 to 16 hours of continuous total darkness, whether they sleep or not.
