Full-spectrum/UVB lights for my indoor parrots?

[reeb]

Hi everyone,

We are moving into winter in South Africa, and while it doesn't get insanely cold or anything, it is the rainy season in Cape Town so it can be a bit gloomy.

I am not worried about my aviary birds. Their aviary is sheltered by an opaque roof (lets in lots of light light), pull down plastic covers on all sides for the rain, heated by two heat lamps and they do get enough sun because they are outside. However, my indoor birds won't get the benefits of being in a more outdoor space, and won't be going out onto the patio into their outdoor cage because it will be cold and rainy.

There's always a lot of sun coming into my room in summer, spring, and even autumn, but today was the first really rainy and gloomy day, and my birds got almost no sun and were pretty inactive as a result!

I know that my local pet shop stocks lighting for reptiles, namely UVB. I know I can probably also find full-spectrum lighting for plants. You won't typically see brands dedicated to bird lighting here (I live in Sunny South Africa, after all!), but as a paranoid parront I want to give my birds the best lighting during the rainy months.

Has anyone in a majority snowy/rainy climates used lighting like this for their parrots?

Thanks!

 

[SailBoat]

Try this Thread: Lighting Information For Birds

This subject never seems to find an answer that satisfies, as it repeats with every change between Summer and Winter.

Long story short. UV light sources improperly used can blind and/or burn the skin of Parrots. Positioning is to say the least very important.

At present, Standard LED, Full Spectrum (daylight) bulbs will keep your Parrot(s) happy. Take care that you follow the natural Day /Night schedule or you and your Parrots will end-up with serious sleep disorders.

 

[Caitnah]

I agree with the above. I was all set in purchasing Full Spectrum Lighting since BUDDY's room doesn't get much light. Then I read a few articles stating the dangers.

Now, I just try and get him outside for an hour or so a few times a week.

 

[reeb]

Yeah I read a few articles too, did some more research, and I'm not so keen on it anymore.

 

[EllenD]

Here's the deal with UVB light: UVB LIGHT DOES NOT AT ALL PENETRATE ANY TYPE OF GLASS OR CLEAR PLASTIC, IT IS 100% BLOCKED BY THE WINDOW GLASS, AND ONLY UVA LIGHT PASSES THROUGH WINDOWS FROM THE SUN.

So your birds are never getting any UVB light from the sunlight coming through the windows, not at all, only UVA light and the heat that comes along with it.

Reptiles need artificial sources of UVB light every single day, as they cannot process any of the Calcium that they eat in their food or supplements at all without getting many hours of UVB light each and every day, and if they don't get 12-14 hours of artificial UVB light or 2-3 hours of natural UVB light every day they will end up with all of the Calcium in their bones being leeched-out by their bodies to be used for other functions, and as a result they develop Metabolic Bone Disease.

in contrast, birds do not in any way need UVB light in order for their bodies to function in any way, nor do they need UVB light in order to absorb any of the nutrition they take in. Birds need sunlight in-general in the same way that humans need sunlight in-general, as a source of certain vitamins, such as vitamin D. That being said, humans don't typically rely upon sunlight as their source of vitamins, but rather get all of the vitamins and minerals they need from their food and possibly from daily multivitamin supplements. Birds do the same. SO NO, PET BIRDS DO NOT NEED ANY ARTIFICIAL SOURCE OF SUNLIGHT AT ALL IF THEY ARE EATING A PROPER, NUTRITIOUS, DAILY DIET. AND BIRDS BODIES DO NOT AT ALL RELY UPON GETTING ANY UVB LIGHT TO FUNCTION IN ANY WAY. Can you imagine people being like "I better go buy myself a T5-strength UVB tube and a strip light for it and sit underneath it for 12 hours a day because I'm worried I'm not getting the vitamin D I need from natural sunlight!' lol...

In addition, as already mentioned, not only do birds not need UVB light or natural sunlight to function or survive at all as long as their daily diets are proper and nutritious, but a lot of UVB lights cause serious eye damage, blindness, skin issues, etc. For example, most all Coil UVB lights put off extremely harmful light rays as a byproduct of their manufacturing process, and reptiles who are put underneath them for 12-14 hours a day, such as Bearded Dragons, end up blind or with serious eye and skin issues, plus the amount of UVB light they emit is extremely weak, and the Bearded Dragon ends-up often developing Metabolic Bone Disease anyway when their owners use Coil and/or Compact UVB lights. This is why long UVB tubes, either T10 or the much stronger and highly recommended T5 strength UVB tubes inside of long tube-light fixtures with a metal reflector placed behind the UVB tube to reflect the UVB light throughout the Dragon's tank are used by most all experienced owners and breeders. SO THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO MUCH, MUCH MORE HARM THAN GOOD BY PUTTING A PARROT UNDERNEATH A UVB LIGHT, A UVA LIGHT, OR AN ALL-IN-ONE MERCURY VAPOR BULB...It's just simply unnecessary.

If you want to ensure your birds are getting everything they need, spend your money on a healthy, varied diet for them, as well as a daily Avian multivitamin supplement, and a daily Avian probiotic supplement for GI and crop health.

***As far as the heat issue, this can be a concern if you think that your home is too cold for your birds due to a lack of sunlight coming through the window, because as I stated the only real benefit to your birds from natural sunlight that penetrates through window glass is the heat.

If you think that you need to add an artificial heat source over/around your bird's cages, then what you want to buy is a CERAMIC HEAT EMITTER, OR CHE. CHE's look similar to regular lightbulbs and they screw into any lamp that takes a regular lightbulb, and they are rated in watts just like a regular lightbulb, BUT THEY ONLY EMIT HEAT, NO LIGHT IS EMITTED BY THEM AT ALL. So you can put a CHE into any lamp, preferably you want to buy a clamp-lamp for them, like the kind you see over baby chickens and in chicken coops, or a dome-lamp, like the kind used over reptile tanks. These types of lamps are meant to handle high-temps and won't melt or catch fire like a regular lamp may. If you search on Google for 'Reptile Dome Lamp" or 'Reptile Clamp lamp" you'll see what i mean. Or, if you don't want to use a CHE for added heat, you can also use other artificial heat sources that emit no light, such as heating pads, heating mats, and portable room heaters.

 

[Birdee]

Vit D is produced on a bird's feathers; it is ingested when they then preen (proven in avian nutrition). In wild bird rehab, it is not at all clear how effective vit d supplementation is as nutrients. We do know that birds are more efficient at metabolizing their own D from their feathers. This site goes over a lot of pertinent, and most importantly, current research on birds and lighting. https://mickaboo.org/newsletter/jul13/work/Proper Lighting to Support Avian Vision.pdf. End of paper has recommendations, but read the research, you will learn a lot. Also, our windows do not allow the spectrum of light in that our bird's need. During warm months, taking the birds outside for periods of sun is the best you can do for them.

 

[EllenD]

Yep, it's true...something that a lot of people don't at all realize, and that is true for themselves, for their pets, and for living creatures in-general is that the body, whatever type of living body we're talking about, absorbs vitamins, minerals, etc. about 95% more readily from food sources than it does from supplements, whether in pill form, liquid form, powder, etc., doesn't matter. This is why I find it hysterical when people insist on taking tons of vitamins every single day. My dad does this, it's ridiculous, and half of them are water-soluble vitamins. So they urinate out 90% of the vitamin supplements anyway, and of the other 10% only a fraction is actually absorbed by the body.

Bottom line is eat a healthy diet and get some natural sunlight...whether we're talking about you OR your bird...