Can it be too dark for a mouse?
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Can it be too dark for a mouse?
by M O U S E Sun 15 Aug 2021, 6:31 pm
So, I used to keep my mouse cage in my room. Of course the light was on during the day or it was at least brighter from the sun coming through the window. However, it gets concerningly hot in the room so I moved my girls outside my room in the hallway. I recently realized that the hallway has the same very dim lighting 24/7. There is a thick blanket over the only window in the hall and the light has a matte colored lightbulb, so it's very dim.
Is this okay or will it confuse Roisin and mess up her instinctual schedule?
Is this okay or will it confuse Roisin and mess up her instinctual schedule?
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- Join date : 2020-03-19
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Re: Can it be too dark for a mouse?
by Crabby Wed 18 Aug 2021, 2:15 am
The only thing mice need daylight for is Vitamin D. In nature mice are nocturnal and they need only very little amount of sunlight(UV-light) to produce it. Probably they get most of their Vitamin D through eating insects.
In captivity mice cannot get Vitamin D through sunlight, because it is blocked by the glass windows. Commercial mice food like lab blocks are containing enough Vitamin D for mice.
In experimental settings with mice who where put on a diet lacking Vitamin D, the animals developed health problems and had faster cancer growth rates.
There is a reason why some mice should not be exposed to sunlight or bright light in general and that goes for all pink eyed and ruby eyed varieties. If a ruby or pink eyed mice is exposed to bright light for a long period or very often, they will get completely blind, because they have no or very very little melanin in their eyes to block the light from damaging their nerves.
Another thing to consider is that red mice (dominant and recessive red) like redhead humans develop skin cancer much faster, if exposed to sunlight.
There is no problem in keeping mice in a darker room, because they can seen light levels much lower than we can. If there is a day/night circle, even if the light at day is low, nothing bad will happen to them. What will disrupt their day/night circle and cause health problems is light at night or inconsistent light changes around the day/night.
But we should consider that these under lab conditions measured harmful effects have only little effect on wild mice populations, who are often living in very unnatural light conditions such as streets of big cities, restaurants, gas stations or subway stations.
In captivity mice cannot get Vitamin D through sunlight, because it is blocked by the glass windows. Commercial mice food like lab blocks are containing enough Vitamin D for mice.
In experimental settings with mice who where put on a diet lacking Vitamin D, the animals developed health problems and had faster cancer growth rates.
There is a reason why some mice should not be exposed to sunlight or bright light in general and that goes for all pink eyed and ruby eyed varieties. If a ruby or pink eyed mice is exposed to bright light for a long period or very often, they will get completely blind, because they have no or very very little melanin in their eyes to block the light from damaging their nerves.
Another thing to consider is that red mice (dominant and recessive red) like redhead humans develop skin cancer much faster, if exposed to sunlight.
There is no problem in keeping mice in a darker room, because they can seen light levels much lower than we can. If there is a day/night circle, even if the light at day is low, nothing bad will happen to them. What will disrupt their day/night circle and cause health problems is light at night or inconsistent light changes around the day/night.
But we should consider that these under lab conditions measured harmful effects have only little effect on wild mice populations, who are often living in very unnatural light conditions such as streets of big cities, restaurants, gas stations or subway stations.
Crabby- New Member
- Join date : 2021-06-11
Posts : 8
M O U S E likes this post
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