Last Updated on by Catherine Tobsing
Joanne Asks…
While using light therapy to curb hormonal behavior what is the reason for covering the cage at night (i.e., placing the cage cover over the light fixture) since the bird will be exposed to light from the fixture anyway?
My 8.5-year-old cockatiel is in a covered cage 12-14 hrs a day (with nightlight), has an implant, and also had Lupron recently.
Changes to the cage and location have had an effect for only about a week.
I believe it’s time to try the 72-hour light therapy.
Any suggestions/advice you can provide will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Joanne
Catherine replied
The reason to cover the cage during the light treatment is to give your bird the same privacy it would get being covered at night even if the lights were off.
However, the biggest benefit is that since the light is going to contribute to a less than normal night’s sleep for the bird, the bird may be awake and call out to you whenever it sees you, thus causing even less rest for it and you.
You can just wrap a sheet or blanket or towel around the sides, and not cover the light above. If your light is hot it should not be covered.
Most of today’s bulbs are not hot so we were able to cover the entire lamp.
We had a cockatiel whose chronic egg-laying was treated with lupron which did not help.
That was when we learned about the light treatment that did help. One 72-hour treatment was all it took.
Catherine
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