UVA/UVB lamps?

[Boman]

Hey guys

We're in Vancouver and during the winter months we only get about 6-7 hours of sun (mostly cloud + rain lol. Our apartment also faces North East so we'd only get a small amount of light in the morning. How often should I use a UVA UVB bulb?

[pfinarffle]

Hey guys

We're in Vancouver and during the winter months we only get about 6-7 hours of sun (mostly cloud + rain lol. Our apartment also faces North East so we'd only get a small amount of light in the morning. How often should I use a UVA UVB bulb?

We're on the East Coast of the US, so not quite as north as you. But, given parrots are tropical animals, we try to maintain as even a light period year round as possible to regulate our Senegal's sleep-wake cycle. We put him in a dark closet and make sure he gets 12 hours of sleep per night. Then, as soon as he's out, he gets either natural light or the UV light on him when he's in his cage. It seems to work well in terms of making him less grumpy etc due to sleep deprivation. We used to let him sleep when we'd sleep, but he'd definitely stay awake in his cage whenever he heard us in the living room where his cage is even when we covered him. So now sleeper cage it is!