One day I'll stop apologizing for stepping on toes. Although I have great respect for my esteemed associate who answered this question previously (on Quora) I have a totally different…
Birdcage lighting for 3 parrots
Hi Mitch,
I am fairly new to reading your blog, so I hope I am not asking questions that are too redundant. I have three birds – an almost 4-year-old male Bodini Amazon, a 2-year-old male Blue-headed Pionus, and a feisty little female Parrotlet. I have two questions really.
First, I would like to know if what I am currently doing is adequate or not. My birds have their own room where their cages are. The room is furnished with a fountain, a tree, hanging toys, etc. – basically a parrot playground. There is only one overhead light in the room that is just an LED daylight bulb.
Questions about birds I answered on Quora the week of 3/13/17.
Do power lines affect the health of birds, when they perch on them?
Hypothetical – a 21st-century genie sits down next to you on a park bench. He looks pretty normal and explains that the whole genie thing has evolved along with modern society.
The dapper young lad named Gene (really?) goes on to say;
Wondering if you can guide me with the care of my umbrella. Her vet is away on sick leave for a few months. I am her third owner.
I live in a two-room 35 ft camper trailer with six dogs and the bird. She likes to be around them – in her cage – and when they get treats she expects ( and gets) her own. They are her flock.
She has been a feather shredder since long before she came to me, about three years ago. She is also very indifferent to food. Her owner before me cared for her well and tried her hardest to get her to fresh fruit and veg. Her primary diet is Zupreem fruit blend, though her specific preference are the pink pieces. But she isn’t even very interested in eating.
Americans have the ACLU – Captive birds in America have Windy City Parrot.
Part of a call from Hawaii at the Birdie Boutique
“I suggest72 hours of constant light, meaning the bird would be in its cage for 3 days, with the lights on”.
Cage birdkeepers response “she’ll never go for something like that“
My email response
As an advocate for pet birds, I wanted to follow up on your lovebird’s reproductive issues.
If a child is sick, he or she does not determine whether or not to accept care.
Although you state your bird would “have nothing to do with it” – she can easily be locked in a cage for three days for her own good so as to extend her life.
Why use full spectrum lighting?
Attn. Mitch Rezman
Fluorescent lights.
The recent post here on Vit. D led me to more research. It appears most if not all of the Windy City Full Spectrum lights have simple magnetic ballasts, producing visible flicker. This is proven for chickens and assumed for the likely better eyes of psittacines with their mainly flying lifestyle.
High-frequency electronic ballasts are now standard for indoor fluorescents where human health is a consideration as the high-frequency flicker is far faster than our visual system can perceive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_ballast>Electronic Ballasts) Commonly about 3500 Hz in Compact Fluorescent Lights. HF ballasts are now competitive with previous mains rate (120Hz) magnetic ballasts products and are offered in full spectrum phosphors lights.
Editor’s note: some of you may remember my journey enabling my mother’s return to Chicago Arlene (my mom) has been on five of the seven continents. Eight years ago at the tender age of 76, she spent three weeks traveling to China.
The Himalayas span five countries: India, Nepal, Bhutan, China (Tibet), and Pakistan, with the first three countries having sovereignty over most of the range. At the time, China had not closed the border to Tibet and she was able to spend three days there. According to mom the majesty, environment, and the purity of the air you breathe in the Himalayas – cannot be understated.
