FINCHforum

To anyone that uses full spectrum lighting I'd like to see a picture of your lighting set up and what kind of lighting you use (specs, brand etc)

Hi Dayna,
I am a new owner but have done Lots of research on finch welfare issues including lighting. I would be interested in the more experienced on this forum chiming in on what I have discovered. Finches require 5000K full spectrum lighting and I have been told at my local bird club that this can be acheived -on a small scale such as me- at Home Depot. Indeed they do have 4'flourscent bulbs that are termed "Natural Light" that are full spectrum..also watch that the one you buy are 98% lumins which is closer to the spectrum needed. I have yet to get any info on the wattage. Because I needed a smaller fixture for now, I was interested in perhaps a screw in bulb and called Philips, the maker of the flourescent , and spoke with a nice fellow who said that the screw bulb does exist in 43 watt Halogen and 50something halogen. No One in DFW carried these bulbs and I would need to buy a case. I was about to order online..to the extent of $60 on Super Sale when I spoke to my folks at the local petsmart who recommended a Natural Light screw in bulb which is in the aquarium section. It is only 10 watt but is 5100K. I have put it into a floor lamp which is over one end of my cage. I would love to know if this is enough.

I use the ReptiSun brand bulbs and now they make an Avian Bulb, for the full spectrum lighting. You can get them at petstores or online.

Are they all just small bulbs that you would put into a lamp or can you get the long type fluorescent tube lights or even something closer to a 60 or 75 watt bulb to put in a light fixture on your ceiling so you don't need to have a light for every single cage?

This is interesting, because just last week I was trying to figure out how to re do the lighting in my bird room.

Up till now, I have used three floor lamps that each have 5 bendable arms, and hold 40 watt regular light bulbs. I have been using a combination of CFL spiral bulbs, and GE "Full spectrum" incandescent ones. (Not quite trusting the label on the GE, and not quite feeling that a regular CFL was enough.)

Turns out, GE has now removed the "full spectrum" part from the label. If you read the box closely, it mentions that the bulb filters out the yellows, making a cleaner brighter light. Well, to my mind, filtering out any part of the color disqualifies it from being "full spectrum". So I wanted to find an alternative.

I also suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, so I started researching full spectrum lighting, in the hopes of finding 4 foot tubes that would be good for myself AND my birds. I feel that most bulbs sold on the market might not be truly Full Spectrum. There are so many numbers they use to classify them. One number might be what you want (5000K), but then the other numbers might not be. (lower lux, or lumens, or whatever.)

I finally found two websites that I feel I can trust to be full spec. One pricier, and one cheaper. I went with the cheaper, but I might upgrade to the more expensive in the future, when these need to be replaced.

Links to the two websites:
http://www.naturallighting.com/cart/store.php?crn=565

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page/00 ... l+Spectrum

The second one is where I ordered mine from. They haven't come yet.

My plan is to install ceiling fixtures, so I can get rid of the floor lamps, as they are constantly in my way when I sweep and vacuum. However, I have one fixture installed so far, with what is called Daylight Deluxe lights from Home Depot (6750 K, if I recall, $7.99 for a two pack). I don't think it is going to be bright enough to reach my lower cages. Even when I have two more in place. So I think I will still need one or two of the floor lamps, so I can aim the light lower down, more directly into the lower level breeding cages. But at least I'll have one or two less things on the floor to deal with.

You can use reptile and avian bulbs from pet stores. But I think they have a higher mark up, just because they are targeted at pet lovers. But even with those, you can save some money by finding better prices on line. I also found a lot of information by googling ones for growing plants. Those plant forum people are REALLY into their lighting!

I hope some of this can be helpful to you. Sorry it got so long.

Finnie - I have always read/been told that the full spectrum lights that you use to grow plants will not work for birds because they are different. I can't remember why though. I will have to look into it again and see what I can find.

My bird "operation" is small scale. I just go with a mini fluorescent full spectrum bulb, in a "clamped on" fixture, suspended about a foot above each individual cage. I use either bird or reptile bulbs - whatever is on sale and buy quite a few at a time if the sale is good. On my bigger flight cage, I have a lamp post that holds three separate bulbs off to the side, It is also about a foot away. In this set-up, I use bulbs from different manufactures to try to be sure that all wavelengths are covered. I know this isn't the ideal set up, but I generally have good luck, good breeding and healthy birds. Full spectrum bulbs (at least the mini fluorescent type) have to be replaced every 90 days or so to achieve the full benefits of the light. I use them elsewhere in the house after the 90 day period instead of throwing them away. As far as plant lights, I don't think they have all the wavelenghts of natural daylight, only the ones specific to plant growth. Bob

Yeah, I didn't mean to use plant grow lights, I meant that the plant people talk about lights a LOT and you can learn a lot of information about light and light bulbs from reading their forums.

I always read that the full spec light bulbs needed to be replaced after 6 months. I wonder if the 90 days is a marketing trick to get you to buy twice as many.

I saw at one place they have "natural" lights that are 5000k and "day" lights which are 6500k.

How many people use actual "night" lights for their birds? Or do most just use a regular night light?

Hi, thought I could give a little info on what I use. I use 4' shoplight fixtures and get my bulbs from the local electrical supply shop, as they carry much more variety than home depot. Ask them for a 5000K bulb with a CRI (color rendering index) as close to 100 as possible, the best I Can get is 98, but it's more than u get at home depot / lowes.

I also like to direct light from the top as it's more natural than side lighting, and u get better coverage that way too. I use timers on them all too, so the birds are on a regular schedule of lighting.

I DO use night lights for all my cages, I think it is a good idea for them.

Good luck to you!
Jeannine

Thank you for all that Jeannine! Welcome to the forum as well!