Benefits of Full Spectrum Lighting

[Pajarita]

Great news, Liz!

As to the original subject, I don't approve of clamp lamps for birds. They work for reptiles because they have a special eyelid that protects their eyes but birds don't have it and, if you put the light too close, it will damage the cornea. I use ceiling fixtures for them. And there are no 'bird' lights, they are just the same reptile lights relabeled 'bird'.

[bean]

Bean has a normal ceiling light fixture apprx 3.5 feet over his cage, (which has a play pen on top and he spends all of his time )and about 5 or 6 feet down from his cage. Would this work for a full spectrum light, or is it too far away?

[Wolf]

Although the manufacturer will probably recommend that the light be closer, I think that your ceiling fixture is about perfect for the light. I know with what I have seen as the result of using the wrong bulb, I don't feel comfortable with any of them being any closer than your light fixture is.

[liz]

I have two bulbs in the ceiling fixture in the sunroom. The sun room is well lit up from the outside light but Wolf told me it was not enough. The bulbs don't add to the light they get but I turn it on anyway because it is the kind of light they need.

[Pajarita]

Exactly, Liz! It's not only how bright the light is, it's also the quality of the light that it's important.

And, yes, the ceiling fixture will work perfectly for Bean.

[bean]

Does anyone have a link to a good quality bulb so I know I am getting a good/correct one?

[CSLFiero]

Doubtless this will be an unpopular opinion but..

In all my research on parrots, never has it been conclusively demonstrated that high cri full spectrum (ie natural light) is necessary for healthy avian biochemistry.

With a background in psychology and a fascination with parrots, I can be quite sure there is increased quality of life for both you and your parrot when exposed to higher quality lighting, and this is beneficial to neural biochemistry. Especially if you or your bird appear to take on a seasonally dependent affect. That is to say, the only sure benefit of fancy lights is just in your head. And thats good enough for me to use them.

[Pajarita]

I am sure it's me having an 'old person' moment but I can't tell whether you are for or against... "Not conclusively demonstrated" but "you are sure there is increased quality of life"?

Personally, as a canary breeder, I can assure you (me and any other good breeder, mind you) that, if you don't have a good full spectrum light for canaries, you end up with many more males than females during breeding season and, as we know that hens determine the gender of the babies according to the conditions (bad = mostly males, good = 50/50 ratio), this makes me think that good light is as necessary as good nutrition. But, aside from that, there have been studies conclusively proving that light specs affect not only reproduction but also growth since the late 60's (see this: http://en.engormix.com/MA-poultry-indus ... 124-p0.htm).

[Wolf]

CSLFiero, I wish you would make up your mind on what you want to say as you first state that there is no evidence as to FS lighting doing any good and then you turn around and say the opposite thing. What is the cause of the confusion?

[liz]

At the beginning of this thread, Wolf gave me a web site to get the right bulbs.