# Lighting



## Amers (Aug 1, 2009)

What kind of lighting situation do you use for your cockatiels? We use a UVA/UVB bulb and place it about a foot away from the cage. But, this still seems to bother Beaker's eyes. I wish there was some way to diffuse the light so it couldn't do damage.


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## dude (Mar 29, 2010)

Where do you live ? Where does the bird live in the house?
Do you really need a bulb light ???

We don't use a light at all for Dudes cage. 

Do your birds get sunlight?

Scrap the bulb . Take your bird outside for a short time every other day. Or put them near a window.


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## Amers (Aug 1, 2009)

Our birds live in a spare bedroom. Some light comes in, but windows usually have UV protection on them. Our birds don't get outside. One is not clipped, so we don't generally take them outside. Would that be a good idea? I hear they are not supposed to be direct sunlight, otherwise we would set their cage on the porch in the summer. (we live in MN)


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## dude (Mar 29, 2010)

I live in australia and we get lot of sun...lol (ok not right now its winter)

But...if your able to get your cages outside. Take the birds outside for some outside time every other day. Once a day even if its easy enough.
Cover half the cage with a towel or any blanket to provide shade/shelter from the sun if they choose not to sit right in direct sunlight.
Don't leave them out all day be deff take them out for a while if you can.
Windows do have UV protection ... BUT... from what I know (?) its something like 90% filtered. That still leaves 10% . Or just do what I do. Open the window! Put the cage infront of it and again cover half the cage so there's still shade if they want it. My bird lives right next to a window I open it whenever it is sunny to give him a good view of outside and I lock him in the cage and make sure he has shade on the other side and just leave him there for hours . And if he wants to come out I just let him out and shut the window so that he doesn't chew the screen.


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## clawnz (May 28, 2009)

What kind of lighting situation do you use for your cockatiels? We use a UVA/UVB bulb and place it about a foot away from the cage. But, this still seems to bother Beaker's eyes. I wish there was some way to diffuse the light so it couldn't do damage.

There does not seem to be a lot of good information on lamp effectiveness.
You are right about having the light a foot above them. There are better lamps, but still do not seem to be effective over more than 4ft. This may work for caged Fids, but I worry this may not work with my free flighted Tiels. 
Natural sunlight is by far the best, but for some of us it is not that easy to move Fids around.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

When it's warm enough, I put all my birds outside so they don't have any special lighting and there's good light in the bird room. The best thing to do is make sure the cage is placed where there's half sun, and half shade - should it get too hot, they can go to the shady half, or should it get too cold, they can go into the sun.


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## bird brain (May 30, 2010)

I also don't have full spectrum lights. I can sometimes open the window to let direct light in if it's warm enough but with the windows closed, most of the UV which is actually beneficial for the conversion of 7-dehydrocholesterol (vit D3 precursor) to vitamin D3 is blocked, so there's no real benefit there. My solution is to add a bit of calcivet (calciboost in some countries) to their water or food every week. This doesn't provide the benefit to their vision as a FS light would of course but it will do for now.

It's important to make sure you use a FS lamp rather than a UV lamp used for reptiles which can actually damage the eyes.


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## Amers (Aug 1, 2009)

Okay. I am confused. Don't they need UVA/UVB light? Does Full Spectrum lighting provide this? Please recommend a light bulb! Thanks!


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

You can use UVB *or* UVA, both these provide the full spectrum lighting.


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## cinnamon (Jul 16, 2009)

We buy the daylight bulbs for indoor use. the tiels sit under it every chance they get, leaving the expensive "full spectrum avian light" unattended.


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## bird brain (May 30, 2010)

The full spectrum aren't the same as the UV bulbs made for reptiles or other uses. FS by definition emit a balanced range of radiation across the visible spectrum and part of the UV spectrum, basically recreating daylight (daylight bulbs and FS are the same). UV bulbs for reptiles have particularly high UVB and aren't balanced like the FS bulbs. You don't have to get bulbs which specifically say they're for birds, there was a brand in the US which made good FS bulbs but I can't remember who they were.


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## DigitalTiel (May 31, 2010)

bird brain said:


> You don't have to get bulbs which specifically say they're for birds, there was a brand in the US which made good FS bulbs but I can't remember who they were.


Zoo Med (AvianSun) is the brand that I buy and get the 5.0 rated one about 8 hours a day. I also use a 40 watt bulb during the night as it gets cool and I like to avoid night frights.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

The benefit of UV light is that it helps them produce vitamin D3, which is necessary for good calcium absorption. You don't have to provide UV light if they get adequate D3 from dietary sources, which generally means pellets since there isn't a lot of Vit D in most natural foods. The big question of course is "how much is enough". 

If you put your birds outside you need to be VERY aware of any potential hazards. There are already too many horror stories of people who put their bird out unattended and it was killed by a predator (hawks, cats, even unexpected things like raccoons). I take my birds outside in a cage but I stay with them. This area may as well be called Hawk City, and I occasionally get bobcats and 4-foot snakes in the yard.

Here's a Coopers Hawk in my back yard:


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## bird brain (May 30, 2010)

Dietary sources of vitamin D3 doesn't have to be pellets. I don't feed any pellets, I use a D3/calcium supplement called calcivet which I give them once a week, or a few times during breeding season.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Liquid calcium is great but some people are wary of it because it works TOO well. Too much calcium is as bad as too little, and we don't know exactly where the borderline is. There's less risk of an overdose with other sources.


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## bird brain (May 30, 2010)

There's more risk of overdosing D3 or calcium if you feed pellets each day, with the liquid supplements you can control how much you're giving much more accurately. The D3 supplement is the only supplement I would ever give mind you, but sunlight is of course the best source.


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