This one has been in my "to send box" for some time. Sorry; if you saw
how out-of-control my inbox was, you would understand.

Q: "Hey Boobio! You mentioned something at [a ferret talk] about
ferrets doing the speedbump, but I missed it. You told me to ask you
in an email and so here it is!"

A: I usually say something different when a lady says "here it is."
Ahh, so many jokes, so little time.

If you pick up almost any book about ferrets, very little is said
about ferret thermoregulation, even though most mention the ferret's
difficulty in handling heat and how much they love to sleep under
blankets. Thermoregulation is the act of using physiological and
non-physiological methods to control body temperature, but we will only
address the non-physiological aspects as they apply to speedbumping.

Ferrets have two types of thermoregulatory behaviors: to cool down and
to warm up. Speedbumping, the act of a ferret that suddenly drops and
sprawls in the ground when playing, is one of those behaviors that help
cool the ferret down. Speedbumping is commonly noticed when a ferret
has been actively playing, and many people have suppositionally
suggested that the ferret might have low blood sugar or is tired. The
problem is, while those two reasons may be true in some cases, young
ferrets speedbump as often or more as older ferrets, suggesting some
other factor is driving the behavior.

The answer is found in the act of play. During play, ferrets run and
wrestle a LOT, and running and wrestling requires the ferret burn
energy to power the muscles. Even though enzymes reduce the temperature
of combustion considerably, it still results in the production of
considerable -- and dangerous -- heat. There is not a person on the FML
who doesn't know this; it is why I sweat like a colander filled with
water after 4 miles on my treadmill (5 miles at 5 degrees and 5 mph --
I'm no slacker!). Ferrets will build up heat by muscular exercise as
well, which is why they shiver when cold or when they first wake up
from a deep sleep (they also shiver when excited or scared, which is
probably to warm up the muscles just in case they have to make a rapid
escape). The problem is, ferrets are not known to sweat much, so how
do they get rid of the heat?

They sprawl. One of the laws of thermodynamics states that heat will
move from a hot area into a cooler one. This will continue until both
areas are at the same temperature. So, a hot ferret lying on a cool
floor will drain heat into the floor and cool off. Sprawling, which
creates the "speedbump," places a larger surface area on the floor
compared to the "lay-rest" position. It also places much of the neck
on the floor, which increases the contact surface considerably.

The phenomenon is well known to anyone who has gone into a bathroom
and let out a yelp after sitting on the cold seat. Why is the seat so
cold? It is fairly close to the same temperature of the room -- say
70 degrees. The thing is, your skin is much warmer, so heat drains
into the seat from your rump, slightly dropping the skin's surface
temperature, causing their cold receptors to say, "Hey! Has this
thing been stored in the freezer, or what?" The same goes on with the
doctor's stethoscope, except because it is metal, heat is transferred
much more effectively and it feels so much colder, even though it might
be at 70 degrees (room temperature).

In my ferret room, I have several 12 inch square porcelain tiles that
decorate the floor (a few bucks each at Home Depot. They also double as
occasional latrines, although that was not my intention). Many times a
playful ferret will speedbump on the tile to cool off. Sometimes I've
seen ferrets sleeping on the tiles, especially when very warm outside.
I've watched outdoor ferrets speedbumping on rocks, in mud, in burrows,
and on other cooling materials, all in an effort to thermoregulate.
I've seen ferrets sunning on a hot day, yet never overheat because they
were sprawled on a cold surface.

This is one of my problems with ferret cage conditions. Many people
will have a cage near a heater or by a window, but will not offer the
ferret a way to cool itself down. When this happens, ferrets do just
what people do on a really hot day; they take a nap, which lowers their
metabolism and cools their body. These ferrets often sleep in the open
because it is cooler than inside a bag or pocketed hammock, even though
their instincts suggest they should be in the dark.

Bob C 
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[Posted in FML 5554]