Day/Night Cycles

[cirrustwi]

I think everyone knows I have tons of animals. Ido a lot of research for myself and my customers. (Shawntells me that I have a crazy amount of knowledge that to most peoplewould be useless, although, he also has to admit that I've helped abunch of people. I swear someone calls me everyday with somesort of question.)One of the things that I've learned arereally important to animals are day/night cycles. I know theyare really important to all creatures, but they seem to affect somemore then others.

Anyway, I've known for a long time that research has shown that thereis a correlation between mixed up day/night cycles and cancer inrats. The ideal setting for a rat is 12 hrs. daylight and 12hrs. darkness.

Reptiles need certain amounts of light/dark to regulate all kinds ofthings. My lizards' lights are on timers and they get theexact amount of light each day. This is regulated throughoutthe year to reflect the amount of light they would be getting if theylived outside.

Currently, there is research going on as to whether day/night cycleshave any connection with adrenal gland disease in ferrets.This is a tumor (sometimes malignant, sometimes benign) that affects 1or both adrenal glands and messes up the production ofhormones. It is a very common disease in ferrets.(I have a ferret right now who is going through testing to see if hecould be helped by surgery). There is no known cause of thisdisease, but there are many theories, including one about day/nightcycles.

What I'm wondering is if there is any thought about a correlationbetween any health problems in rabbits and day/night cycles.Does anyone know if any studies have been conducted? Myrabbits get really strict day/night cycles because they are in the sameroom as my rats and ferrets, but I'm suddenly very curious about this.

I'm not going to conduct a study or anything, I'm just really interested in this.

Thanks,

Jen

 

[m.e.]

Hmm...that's something interesting to think about.

I first noticed the effect of day/night cycles when we had our ferrets.They had, for some while, been staying in my old bedroom, which waslargely artificially lighted. My new bedroom was constructed from theold sunroom, so I had 4 large/4 small north-facingwindows,two skylights, and a glass door that faced severaleast windows. The whole room was effectively 100% natural lighting.

The change in the ferrets demeanor and conditions was -honestly-astounding. They justseemed healthier. They stoppedshedding so much, and they're activity levels were less erratic andmore predictable.

The rabbits have nearly always been in my naturally-lit room. It doesseem to have an effect on their behavior: they start to get a lot moreactive as summer approaches, and eat and sleep more as fall fades intowinter. During the dark winter months, they're active only a shortwhile every day.

As someone who suffers from mild S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder),I know how powerful an effect sunlight can have on hormones andbrain chemistry. It makes sense that it would have the same or similareffect on animals, who often abide by schedules due tothechanging patterns of daylight.