Dayna Frazier of Virginia, a ferret shelter operator for more than eighteen years, agrees. Both of these ferret owners, and some veterinarians, recommend that pet owners regulate ferret's light cycles. Frazier's method is neither complex nor expensive. She recommends that ferret owners install four-foot, full spectrum lights over their ferret cages or in ferret rooms, above human head height, and connect them to an appliance timer to regulate the hours of light for their pets. Wood agrees that full-spectrum lighting will best emulate natural light.
Wood suggests setting the timer for the lights to come on at sunrise and go off at sunset.
A newspaper or tidal guide will give the times to set the lights. Check these sources weekly to adjust the timer, says Wood. Depending on geographical location, this method will result in about 10 total hours of light per day in the winter, changing gradually to 14 in the summer. Regular incandescent lights will work OK, he says. A good rule of thumb for determining brightness, says Frazier, is to make sure the bulbs provide sufficient light to grow healthy African Violets.