# lighting question



## mitch2006 (Jan 15, 2011)

is energy saver light bulbs bad for baby/adults cockatiels eyes?
(the spiral kind of light bulbs)
if not what watt of regular bulb is best?
i was told they could be bad for their eyes


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Compact fluorescent bulbs are fine for birds and humans. The only type of light that you really need to avoid with birds is reptile lamps.


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## DaBirds (Jun 21, 2011)

Hm, that makes me wonder why. Is it because they're meant more to create heat than to give light with proper uv? Are they harmful? I ask because I have a reptile bulb in my sick bird supplies as a heat source. Are reptile bulbs ok for that use?

I use natural light for day light, a regular room lamp for cloudy days with a regular fluorescent bulb, and a rope light for night light.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I believe reptile lights are coated with teflon which is why they're bad for birds.


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## DaBirds (Jun 21, 2011)

I did not know that. Thank you!


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## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

I emailed zoo med awhile back because I have their reptile lamps and wanted to know if they were safe and the company rep stated that none of their products are coated with teflon


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## DaBirds (Jun 21, 2011)

This post made me go check out recommended emergency and hospital setups for sick birds and I'm reading that humidity is important. Perhaps a reptile bulb dries out the air too much?

Love to Zoo Med for bird friendly practices. I have hermits and am glad to hear their lights are not a problem for my flock. Compatible cohabitation is important. Did check them when I bought them but thought maybe I'd missed something.


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

tielfan said:


> Compact fluorescent bulbs are fine for birds and humans. The only type of light that you really need to avoid with birds is reptile lamps.


I had some birds die with 250 watt infrared brood lamps, the kind used for chickens. Those _are_ coated with teflon. Zoo Med lamps are not coated with teflon, the cheap ones may be though.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> Is it because they're meant more to create heat than to give light with proper uv? Are they harmful? I ask because I have a reptile bulb in my sick bird supplies as a heat source. Are reptile bulbs ok for that use?


The problem with reptile lights is that the UVB is too strong for birds and can burn their eyes. This actually happened to a forum member's birds a few years ago but fortunately her tiels recovered. The thread is at http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=6686 

Patrick Thrush is the leading authority on birds and lighting and he has some comments on reptile lights at http://users.mis.net/~pthrush/lighting/spectrum.html

Edit: a simple warming light that provides infrared but not UVB is OK. It's the high-UVB reptile lights that you have to watch out for.


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