Lighting reccomendation please!

[Jason in TX]

Hey y'all! I am a lifelong zebra keeper but am new to owls and goulds. I am keeping the later two species indoors next to a window that gives them atleast 8hrs of direct sunlight per day. I am aware that this is insufficient. I want give all of my animals the best possible conditions, so I need to light their cage. It is a 30" flight cage. I would like to light it with a tube flourescent bulb, not a mogul based bulb.

My question is, can someone reccomend a specific bulb/fixture combination that will meet the needs of my birds? An amazon link would be greatly appreciated! Cheers! J

[Sally]

Modern window glass is designed to filter out UVB light, so the birds really don't get total benefit from being in front of a window (they get some, just not total). I have been using daylight fluorescent bulbs from Lowe's, which are not perfect but better than plain fluorescents. I have copied a post from another topic that debbie276 made, giving a link to an excellent article on lighting. That article also tells about some good bulbs to use.

Most feel that the full spectrum lights are not a good source of vitaminD. The birds do benifit from the full spectrum lights visually though. Here's an article about PROPER LIGHTING TO SUPPORT AVIAN VISION:
http://confluence.mickaboo.org/download ... ummary.pdf

Here's a link to nutrients and their sources:
http://www.finchinfo.com/diet/nutrients_and_sources.php
egg, especially the yolk will supply them with vitaminD for calcium absorption.

And welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at the Finch Information Center, linked at left, and the members are always ready to help. If you put your general location in your profile, it helps to answer locale-specific questions later on. If you are in the DFW area, please look into our local Fort Worth Bird Club--www.fwbc.org.

[Jason in TX]

I appreciate that! One of my other passions is reefkeeping. In recent years LED's have become commonplace (but expensive) in reef aquaria. Have they found a place in avian lighting? Longevity of bulbs and lack of heat is a big advantage.

[Sally]

LED's are still pretty new in birdkeeping, it will be interesting to see if they become more popular. I visited a friend yesterday who is using LED lights on her cages. She is using the 'ribbon' style, 16' long. She mounted two rows of ribbons on the wall behind each of two rows of cages. The lights are not as bright as a fluorescent tube. However, when I have mounted fluorescent tubes behind cages, I never liked the bright light shining into my face. With these, even though the light is behind the cage and shining towards me, it was not so bright as to be annoying.

I have emailed a company that is making LED lights in various Kelvin levels, and they sell one light that is 5000 or 5500 Kelvin. I asked them if they can tell what the CRI is on these lights. I have noticed that most LEDs don't list a Kelvin or CRI rating.

If I just had one or two cages to light, I think I would go with a really good avian bulb, but I would want one that has 5000 to 5500 Kelvin and 95 to 98 CRI.

[Jason in TX]

Hmmm..... This fixture fits the bill but the color temp is a bit high at 6500k.

http://www.marinedepot.com/Current_USA_ ... TF-vi.html

[debbie276]

According to the article:
"Our companion birds do best under the color temperature of the sun (as experienced on earth), which is 5000 K in the tropical latitudes. Color temperatures lower than this (more red) can lead to breeding behavior, while higher color temperatures (more blue) have been shown to produce more stress and feather destruction. For tropical birds, look for a light that has a temperature of at least 5000 K and not more than 5700 K."

I'd be afraid to go as high as 6500K

Welcome to the forum

[Sally]

Hmmm..... This fixture fits the bill but the color temp is a bit high at 6500k.

http://www.marinedepot.com/Current_USA_ ... TF-vi.html

After reading an article that stated that breeding results would be better using a 6500K bulb, I started using Exo-terra reptile bulbs that rated at 6500K. To my surprise, my birds have never looked worse, feather-wise I mean. Their feathers are in poor condition, I have a lot of plucking going on, where the birds have been plucked the feathers are coming in white, etc. Perhaps it is because I have the bulbs too close to the cages (they lay on top) or perhaps it is because I have too many bulbs in my birdroom, but I am not going to use them any longer. Perhaps just one 4' bulb in a ceiling fixture in a 12x14 room would have been better.

So, for economy I am going to continue with the daylight fluorescent tubes that come from Lowes ($7-8 each) for the tops of the cages (I like the way they light up my colorful waxbills), and I'm going to supplement with a couple of tubes of the bulbs recommended in the article debbie276 quoted, mounted to reach each cage in the room but not close.

I might add that at first I was so pleased with the reptile bulbs. As my Strawberry males molted into their nuptial plumage, I noticed that their red was deeper and more colorful than in the past. But now they have good color on ratty feathers.

[Jason in TX]

Wow, that is amazing that such a small color temp shift can have such negative results. I am giving up on the LED idea!

Do any of you have an opinion on this buld? It does not give kelvin rating.

http://zoomed.com/db/products/EntryDeta ... SearchID=5

[Sally]

It says that it is an avian bulb, providing safe levels of UVA and UVB, but there is no information on the website as far as Kelvin or CRI. I'd email them and ask for that info.

[Jason in TX]

I found out that that bulb is 7500k so it is not an option for me. The articles have given me a clear understanding of what I need and why, but I cannot find an actual product that meets our requirements. Would someone be able to post a retailer link to a bulb that you use succesfully? Ideally an 18" tube flourescent. Thanks!

[Sally]

This is an 18" T8 bulb at Top Bulb. It is 5700K so at the high end of the permissible range, and CRI 92, which is a bit low.

http://www.topbulb.com/f15t8-fs-bulb-15 ... ctrum.html

[Jason in TX]

Thanks for that Sally! I have spent way too much time trying to find a perfect bulb, so this is close enough! A fixture fore that bulb will be easy to find too.

[Sally]

I know what you mean, Jason. I have multiple different cage sizes and shapes, so I have multiple different sizes of fixtures, some T12, some T8, some T5. Trying to find bulbs of the right size, Kelvin and CRI is an exercise in futility. I have spent hours and hours scouring the internet, which is why I have decided to use inexpensive 'daylight' bulbs overall and just add a few good full-spectrum for overall lighting.

[Jason in TX]

So I got my fixtures set up. I just went to petsmart and bought three Aqueon aquarium fixtures. I like the simple look and the fact that all light goes down. I ordered Maxum 5000 bulbs (as seen in the link). Once again, I really appreciate your help Sally!!

http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/fu ... 5_prd1.htm