Lighting Period For Indoor Flight Cage

[alfdtuna]

You folks have been so helfpul thus far..another piece of the puzzle. Give me some input on lighting for a 60''x30''x30'' indoor cage. What unit would you buy and bulb choice.

Once armed with the lighting unit, how many hours per day, Im thinking 12 AND do I need to change it with the season? Im kinda of a night owl and was thinking 12-12. We are talking about Gouldians here..Fire away...
Tracey

[Sally]

Is that 60" long? I would put a double 48" shop light on top, using two daylight fluorescent bulbs. If you aren't breeding, 12 hours would probably be just fine.

[alfdtuna]

Breeding at this point is not on the agenda...It seems that 4 gould males would be fine in this size enclosure??

[Sally]

If the length is 60 and width is 30, 4 male Gouldians should be in heaven in that size cage. I have a similar size as far as length and width, except mine is 72 tall. The FIC cage calculator says you can keep 6 to 8 birds in your cage, and that is the ideal. If not breeding, I have kept more birds than that my cage.

[nixity]

My lights are on from roughly 7am to 9pm every day, 365 days a year.
The amount of sunlight where Gouldians are native does not change significantly with the seasons so keeping them consistent is fine.

I say roughly because since I have three "units" of cages on walls, they are staggered to turn off and on within 5-10 minutes of one another so the birds aren't thrust into total darkness suddenly at night, and "wake up slowly" in the morning.

[alfdtuna]

Im sorry Sally, the cage is 60'' tall and 40'' long..what differnce would that make for light??

[nixity]

Im sorry Sally, the cage is 60'' tall and 40'' long..what differnce would that make for light??

It doesn't make a difference for light, necessarily, but the amount of horizontal space is considerably important being that these birds do most of their movement left to right and not up and down within the cage.

Generally speaking it is always best to get a cage that focuses on horizontal flight path space, more than vertical height (unless the two go hand in hand, i.e., a 6' x 6' flight) when it comes to keeping/housing finches.

[Sally]

If it is 40 wide by 30 deep by 60 tall, then the FIC cage calculator says that it is fine for 4 to 5 birds, so you will still be OK for 4 male Gouldians. Of course, a 48" shop light is not going to work on top of it. You could look for a 24" shop light--Wal-mart was carrying them, but using T8 bulbs. 36" lights are non-existent, at least in my area. I have a similarly-sized cage that was given to me by some Gouldian breeders, they used it for their juveniles, and the 24" shop lights give sufficient light for your enjoyment.

[alfdtuna]

In this light fixtures, what bulb should I put in it, a full spectrum or 5700k??

[Sally]

I just get the cheapest daylight bulbs at Lowe's or Home Depot--think they are made by GE or Phillips.

[CandoAviary]

I just get the cheapest daylight bulbs at Lowe's or Home Depot--think they are made by GE or Phillips.

Me too The full spectrum is just a descrition of the color that the bulb puts out.
Vitamin D3, calcium and magnesium can be supplied by the products Calciboost or Calcium Plus so sunlight is not really necessary... though the birds do love a sun bath