Shared room and light cycles

[ivylea77]

Currently my rats share the same room as my reptiles. I've read that many breeders housing multiple snakes in racks use no specific lighting and just turn the lights on when they're working in the room. If I was to do this, would my rats suffer from not having a regulated day and night cycle? I hope that makes sense.
I'm all about conserving energy.

[littleindiangirl]

I don't think so. My rats were in my bedroom for a long time so the TV was on late and we were doing this late with the lights on, and they played all night regardless and slept during the day unless I woke them up to play.

[ivylea77]

Well in this case the lights would be on sporadically, depending on when I was working in the room. There is no exterior light so any light they would get when the lights were off would be light coming from the interior of the house.

Just wasn't sure if rats were affected by varying light cycles.

[littleindiangirl]

I just read this again, and I thought of your post.

http://ratguide.com/breeding/pregnan...itter_loss.php

Light
Cycles of light and darkness are also important in breeding rats, and they should be provided with 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. Deviating from this cycle can affect the reproductive process. Duration and type of lighting can also affect estrus behavior. Rats exposed to noise and flashing lights during pregnancy had an increased absorption rate and variation in fetal weights. Subtle variations in temperature and humidity have been shown to cause decreased reproductive efficiency. Proper ventilation can have an impact, reducing the spread of disease. It also provides a stable temperature and lessens the chance of drafts.