Aussie Finch Forum

http://www.parrotislandinc.com/articles/alight.htm hi, interesting article, ( I stole it from another post) Ive heard of egg binding in canaries and budgies where the sheeting on the enclosed aviary blocked access to uv. Did anyone come up with a branded light that fit the bill? I only ask as I use to pick the best of my gouldian breeding stock , place them as pairs in breeding cages in my garage let them have one round then release them into the main aviary, hoping they remained bonded for the remainder of the breeding season. I gave away the practice as it was time consuming and overall I was pretty happy with the quality of my birds. So now Im retired I thought I would revisit the practice to only find the solar panels I had installed, pretty much block my skylights. So after 6 weeks with the occasional placement outdoors in the sun, all 4 prs failed to lay eggs or look like breeding, so they have been released to the main flight aviary.
Next season I intend to try again with the introduction of artificial light. So what lights can I use? thanks john

If you intend on having artificial lighting the best seem to be full spectrum tubes..
These are the ones used overseas where birds have no access to natural light.
There was an importer selling the units at the last Bendigo mini convention
I have 2 in my bird room and they work fine as a light, benefit to the birds no proof
either way. But my room also has natural light as well.

Birds and reptiles held indoors require a vitamin D supplement to be able to absorb calcium. Naturally they get vit D from sunlight. Recommend Ornithon in their water.

Been keeping Gouldians & other finches in a birdroom inside for 10 years without natural light & no problems with egg binding you will need a Calcium & Vitamin D3 suppliment (I use a liquid in their water weekly).

I did try some 'Arcadia UV bulbs' for birds for the first few years but they were very expensive, didn't last long & mainly preferred by old birds as they were flourescent & give off a lot of heat. I now use cheap standard household LED bulbs (cool white spectrum) which seem to show off the bird colours better than normal soft white coloured ones.