opinions on Artificial Lighting

[Mynard]

Thanks Trish
i ordered them a few weeks ago,but their not ready to come home,i get to go pick them up at the end of May first week of june,i just got the regular colors as im prone to loving original colors lol but ill post pics after i get them.....i cant wait!

[nixity]

I so envy those of you who have basements, as that is a great place to set up cages and/or flights. You can always put plenty of light in the basement.

I truly feel as though having my birds in my basement contributed to all of the problems I had with my losses.

Misty can attest to my so-called "beginner's luck" when I first started heavily breeding in my New Jersey townhome. There, the birds were in an upstairs spare bedroom that got a TON of fresh air and sunlight (granted, through windows). I still used artificial lighting (never paid for expensive UV lighting, though) but I had a ton of success breeding and was getting gorgeous, healthy birds.

Everything changed when I moved to MD and relocated my birds to the basement. Between battling humidity and fluctuating temps, I would have to say I lost nearly 40% of the offspring I produced last year - most of which were blues.
I kept trying to associate it with the mutation, but I have noticed a marked change in the appearance of the 8 birds I kept now that they are back in an open air living room with a ton of sunlight streaming in all day.

I don't have the odd/wonky poops, my blues look stellar, and all the birds seem active and happy again.
Maybe it's subjective because I began to have negative associations with the basement but I really do think that was the source of all my problems.
Too little air flow, too much humidity, carpet that sucked up everything nasty and was impossible to keep clean.. etc etc etc.

I hated NJ but that set up was the best for my birds
My biggest loss was a clutch of babies (I lost 6 right before fledging) in the middle of summer that I lost due to mold in the nest.

Makes me want to breed again and see if I'd have better luck with the blues being out of the dingy basement :/

[6finchfriends]

Gosh Tiffany that sounds terrible! I have moved my finches into a spare bedroom in the basement. I hope my finches don't get sick. I have two windows and the basement is finished so I hope they'll be okay. Everywhere is damp where I live. It rains all the time but it's not humid. Like mold from humidity.

Tania~ hows your new bird room coming? I've got mine all moved in and in their big new cages. The Societies love it! They can really FLY! there's tons of room even for 7 finches.
I'll slip a photo in of the Societies in their new flight cage so you can see what kind of light we put up. Also I ended up putting our oil filled radiator in the room. It's keeping it nice and toasty warm. I like the way the flight turned out but I already have a couple of changes if we ever build another one. ha!

[finchmix22]

I have also bought light and heaters from Featherlight. They work great. I was able to get red bulbs at Home Depot because the pet store ones are expensive and don't last as long.
In addition, I take the cages outside on nice days and the birds just love to be outside!! They sing, call, fly around and get their Vit. D. LOL. I have a rolling double flight set up and my kids help me roll it into our yard. The other breeding pair cages go out if there are no eggs or babies. Good Luck.

[6finchfriends]

What is the red light for?

[Mynard]

wow,Trish looking good! my room is slowly coming together.i just need a nice backing cover for the back of the cage to make it less gloomy then all i need is more birds.im gonna get some Gouldians,i saw them at the bird show today and ya way to cute, my husband thinks im crazy cause in the end im hoping to have Javas,shaft tails and Gouldians but hey least i got the room and 4 empty cages (just incase )
next on my list is the 24/7timer and a heater (probally get 1 closer to winter since its nice now)
but thats about where im at,hopefully next week my male javas will be here,and im just waiting on a call for the gouldians-i tried to find a link a forum member posted for the gentic out comes of offspring but cant seem to find it murphys law i guess,shoulda bookmarked it when i had the chance Lol

[6finchfriends]

I got a 24/7 timer for Mother's Day! God Bless a husband that understands what is really important to his wife!

[debbie276]

im just waiting on a call for the gouldians-i tried to find a link a forum member posted for the gentic out comes of offspring but cant seem to find it

The best genetic forecaster out there is the one from Carlos Matos and it's FREE.

http://clientes.netvisao.pt/carlmato/