Heat lamp

[Stephanie100]

I use ceramic heat lamps for my outside aviary. The lamps are positioned outside the aviary and point towards perches. They do not emit any light and the heat is constant. My sennies love them and they are safe as long as they cant touch them.

[Pajarita]

Yes, they are pretty safe as long as the bird cannot reach them but I'll tell you what I don't like about them: they are focal sources and, as such, the heat disperses too much and too fast. I wonder if one can use those thingies people use under the bathroom floors outdoors - but I would assume they would not provide enough heat for an aviary. Outdoor aviaries are a real quandary when they are for all four seasons...

[kenedy]

The most important this to do is to look for the specifications of it.

[Navre]

There are no bulbs that are higher than 93 with a good Ktemp - this is the only one I've found: http://products.mercola.com/light-bulbs/

You can get better specs in tubes but most people don't have tube fixtures in human living areas...

I ordered a couple of these. I have placed them in the fixture in the center of the birds' room. They seem very bright, but they're several feet away from the birds.

Do you keep these on all day, or do you just turn them on for several hours around noon?

[Wolf]

Pajarita is sort of occupied with getting new flooring in at her house and it may still be a couple of weeks before she is back. I think that she generally turns hers on about an hour or two after sunrise and leaves them on until about two hours before dusk begins.
Since I am talking to her in an attempt to try and learn more about Rajah and his life as a breeder bird, ( not much chance but only one we have), I can ask her about this for you if you want me to.

[Navre]

Pajarita is sort of occupied with getting new flooring in at her house and it may still be a couple of weeks before she is back. I think that she generally turns hers on about an hour or two after sunrise and leaves them on until about two hours before dusk begins.
Since I am talking to her in an attempt to try and learn more about Rajah and his life as a breeder bird, ( not much chance but only one we have), I can ask her about this for you if you want me to.

That seems to make sense. No need to bug her. Some people say that they only have the light on a fe hours a day, but I suspect the light is a lot closer, and the lamps may be throwing off more UV.

[Wolf]

I am always looking into these full spectrum lights as I am always interested in anything that may benefit my birds. I do like them, but they do not produce enough UV light to achieve the health benefits claimed by the manufacturer in regards to conversion of Vitamin D -3 or in calcium absorption Except for when the UV output is high enough to cause blindness or severe burning of the bird These are, however not the only reason that I bought my full spectrum lights, I also got them because the lower levels of UV light output actually helps the bird to see better in that it allows them to see more of the colors that they can see that we are blind to and there is also some evidence that they may assist in the production of feel good hormones, at least in humans. I really have not heard of any studies into this as pertains to birds. For this reason I use my lights to enhance their vision and never allow them closer than 3 feet of the light.

[christoph]

Which vitamin d3 supplement do you recommend?

[Wolf]

To be honest, I don't usually recommend one unless the vet recommends it. The problem is that too much of any one vitamin or mineral is as bad as not enough of them and can create more problems than it solves. For vitamin D-3 I recommend about 15 to 20 minutes of unfiltered sunshine. I take my birds outside in travel cages and set the cage in the shade, while I sit there with them and sip on a cup of coffee while also talking with them or singing with them. I never leave them unattended for even a minute when outside.