Is UV lighting necessary or dangerous?!?

[JaydeParrot]

Have been told by vet that my male sennie seems calcium deficent and could do with access to more UV rays, unfortunately the winter weather where I live means he freezes if I put him outside the house, we tried it and within seconds he was shaking from cold so he had to go back immediately.

I've heard from many people that UV light bulbs are a 'must' and am considering buying one, however I've also heard that UV bulbs could blind a bird if the wrong one is given. I've looked at two different brands.

Arcadia says it gives out 20 watts, 12% UVA and 2.4% UVB lighting.

Whereas

FeatherBrite says it gives out 21 watts, UVA 4% and UVB .05% lighting.

Is there a corrent percentage of UVA and UVB for birds/is every bird different in the amount it needs?

Would anyone recommend either of these brands?

Thanks.

[Chantilly]

I really dont know, I think it would be dangerous! But if you dont get much light mabye it would be necessery.

[liz]

The UV is beneficial for their health in many ways. An added bonus is that your bird can see better in UV and gets a better concept of the world around him.

You don't use it as a person would for a reptile or baby chick. You use it to light the room. I have 2 lights in a floor lamp on a timer so I don't mess up their schedule due to my bad memory. One light is aimed to the ceiling to reflect off. The other is aimed to the middle of the room. It is like giving them sunshine when they can't get out to get the real stuff.

Be very careful when you take them outside. I lost my Bubba cockatiel when the bottom fell out of the cage. He stayed in a tree outside a window calling Sweetie for 3 days but stayed out of my reach. He joined a flock of wild birds to eat and sleep in the red tip trees in my yard. When the flock moved so did he. I loved my Bubba and so did Sweetie. She suffered for it. The only comfort she got was from a male cardinal who would spend most of his day visiting and talking to her. She even started talking like him.

[Pajarita]

UV bulbs should never be used with parrots. If they are high enough that they make a difference in vit D3 production, they are too strong for their eyes so, basically, they are either useless or dangerous. How did the vet determine that he was calcium deficient? Was an ionized calcium test done? Because that is the ONLY way that an accurate calcium level can be determined as the levels in the blood fluctuate in birds depending on the season and even at different times during the day so they are never reliable. If this is the test that was done and the results were too low, I suggest you give him 5 daily dosages of Calciboost or an equivalent avian liquid calcium.

One should always supplement vit D3 in some form to parrots. Pellets are supposed to provide all the D3 they need but I've never birds that have died from eggbinding on Harrison's. Problem is, D3 is one of those that it's iffy to supplement because, if you give too much, it ends up as a fatty globule in the liver -and that's not good. What I do is give my parrots a powder vitamin/mineral supplement that has it once or twice a week, depending on the season as well as providing cuttlebone. It has worked perfectly for me as I've never had a single bird eggbound or even producing a soft shelled egg.

[Wolf]

In answering your question about Full spectrum lighting, I think that before reading any of my comments that you should first read this;

http://forums.avianavenue.com/index.php ... mp.149742/

This is from another forum that I am a member of.

Full spectrum lights can be a good thing but only if you use the right ones these being either the tube type or the compact fluorescent bulbs with a K Temp of 5000 to 5500, a CRI of 94+ and a UVA/B output no greater than 2. These are the specifications as you can't trust the labeling on the package you normally have to look for this information on the base of the bulb or printed on the tube. Because of the risks involved you can not take any part of this for granted.

Now there are many possibilities for why a bird may be deficient in calcium and they should all be considered in relation to the amount of calcium that you provide for your bird. The vitamin deficiency that is found most often in parrots is that of vitamin A, a bird that is deficient in vitamin A is going to be deficient in calcium, even if the bird is actually receiving enough calcium. Then you must also look at the amount of phosphorus and magnesium in the birds diet. Magnesium is required for the bird to use sunlight to manufacture vitamin D-3, but magnesium is also a calcium blocker so although it is needed yo must be careful not too have an excessive amount of magnesium or you will have a deficiency of calcium. Vitamin D- 3 is required for the bird to use the calcium and phosphorus must also be in the correct ratio as too much of it will also result in a calcium deficiency.
The best way to supplement the birds vitamin A levels is through diet by using foods such a broccoli that are rich in this vitamin. Sunlight that is unfiltered is the best way to provide a bird the means to make the vitamin D-3 that it needs. If the temperatures are 50 degrees F. outside with very little wind you can take your bird outside for 10 to 15 minutes without any problem especially if there is a sunny day. You could even do this a couple of times a day at these temperatures. You could also supplement the birds vitamin D-3 levels through a powdered vitamin/ mineral supplement that you sprinkle on the birds moist foods. In this case it sounds like the vet is saying that the birds calcium levels may be low due to not enough vitamin D-3.

[Navre]

I was trying to register for that site. The captcha question was, "How many toes does a parrot have?"

I answered 8, but that answer was wrong. How was that a wrong answer? LOL!

[Wolf]

I must have had a different question, 'cause I don't even remember what is was. I guess they can't count or they are calling a different bird a parrot, who knows?!?

[Navre]

I must have had a different question, 'cause I don't even remember what is was. I guess they can't count or they are calling a different bird a parrot, who knows?!?

I think they were looking for "4." Must be a lot of one-legged parrots where they're from.