Opinions on using a heat lamp to keep baby birds warm

Hello!

I'm new to the forum but I have been surfing and reading some threads for the past few days and decided to make an account.

I am a hobby breeder of Lovebirds and as I was surfing the forums I remember seeing a comment that using a heat lamp to keep the babies warm may interfere with development. I have never heard of this before and it got me alarmed.

I looked online through many handfeeding and raising baby parrot articles and they all said you can use a brooder, heat lamp, or heating pads.

I, of course, want to the best for my babies and would like to reach out to other people and hear their opinions on this topic and point me towards the direction of any research and evidence that was done on this topic if they know of any.

Thanks!

Heat lamps are not ideal at all, as they can cause eye damage, skin damage, and even blindness. Think about how baby birds are naturally kept warm before their feathers grow-in...Their parents lay on them, and the ambient air temperature in their nest areas is warmer...they don't have the bright, natural sun beating down on them all day long, if at all. And that's natural sunlight, which is not potentially dangerous like heat-bulbs or any artificial light bulb is, even the ones that are "made for birds"...

The best option is always going to be a real Brooder that was specifically built for keeping baby birds in. However, if you don't have an actual Brooder, the next best thing is to put a heating-pad that has adjustable heat levels underneath the back-half of a container/box that the heat can transfer through to, and keep that back half also covered, having an ambient thermometer inside that back half. The front half should stay uncovered and not be on top of the heating pad, that way they have the option of cooling down as well. The heating pad essentially works like a Brooder does, it changes that ambient temperature around/underneath the babies...

Another factor you need to think about is that baby birds need darkness, not light during the day, especially through the first couple of weeks after you pull them. So no, keeping any type of heat bulb/lamp/light on them is not a good idea...

I built a homemade brooder this year with a non-light-emitting heat lamp. I installed it on the inside of a 29 gallon aquarium so it hands down. Using a heat lamp can work, you just don't want to put babies directly underneath it without a way to get away from it, as it can and will burn tjem. What I've found is that I can still make a heat lamp functional as a heat source in my brooder by sectioning off the lamp so that babies can't actually get under it, by blocking it off with something heat safe (I used plastic heat rollers clamped together), the aquarium is able to hold a temperature. Of course it will take constant monitoring (I covered the top screen of aquarium with a towel and controlled temp by removing towel from a section above the heat lamp. Lets out just enough heat to cool things down.) I also utilized a reptile humidifier, which can also be controlled. You'll also need a digital thermometer/humidity reader to always keep track of how hot it gets inside!

Here's a picture of my setup. I later sectioned half off in the middle with the hot rollers, and on the other side (left) chicks can be placed in a small bin to keep in one place.

Thank you so much for your replies!

@ Ellen; do you know of any evidence or research that you can point me to so I can read more about what you're saying.

I have raised 5 clutches of Lovebirds using a heat lamp as there source of heat and they all turned out wonderful. No blindness, eye issues, or skin/feather issues. They all had a clean bill of health.

But of course, if there is any evidence to support what you're saying I will most definitely ditch the heat lamp and invest in a brooder.

Thank you again.

itzjbean said:

I built a homemade brooder this year with a non-light-emitting heat lamp. I installed it on the inside of a 29 gallon aquarium so it hands down. Using a heat lamp can work, you just don't want to put babies directly underneath it without a way to get away from it, as it can and will burn tjem. What I've found is that I can still make a heat lamp functional as a heat source in my brooder by sectioning off the lamp so that babies can't actually get under it, by blocking it off with something heat safe (I used plastic heat rollers clamped together), the aquarium is able to hold a temperature. Of course it will take constant monitoring (I covered the top screen of aquarium with a towel and controlled temp by removing towel from a section above the heat lamp. Lets out just enough heat to cool things down.) I also utilized a reptile humidifier, which can also be controlled. You'll also need a digital thermometer/humidity reader to always keep track of how hot it gets inside!

Here's a picture of my setup. I later sectioned half off in the middle with the hot rollers, and on the other side (left) chicks can be placed in a small bin to keep in one place.

Click to expand...

Good call on using a CHE, as that accomplishes the same result as a heating pad does, a rise in ambient temperature without using light...

****Yes, I can go find multiple sources of evidence on why you should not EVER use any type of artificial lighting on birds in captivity, as this is and has been a very hot-topic for years and years, about the time they started selling artificial lighting that is supposedly for birds, when in-reality the artificial lights sold for birds are either just regular old UVA lights that simply provide heat and no other benefit, or they are bulbs that emit UVB light only, which is not only totally unnecessary for birds in captivity if they are fed a healthy, varied diet, but have been shown over and over and over again to cause serious eye damage, blindness, and skin damage in both birds and also in the reptiles and amphibians, most of whom actually do require a certain amount of UVB light daily in order to manufacture Vitamin D3 so that they can then absorb any of the Calcium they eat in their food or in supplement form.

A lot of the eye damage/blindness is dependent on the type of bulb you are using. Most ALL coil/spiral bulbs sold on the market today for Reptiles/Amphibians and for birds, whether they are just "UV" bulbs for heat only, or are UVB-emitting, or are all-in-one Mercury Vapor Bulbs (MVB) cause numerous serious eye and skin issues, not to mention that when it comes to Reptiles, like Bearded Dragons for instance, who require at least 12-13 hours a day under an artificial UVB light or 1-2 hours of natural sunlight, the coil/spiral UVB bulbs as well as the normal "compact" bulbs as they are called (look like just a regular lightbulb) emit very little to no UVB light at all when tested. They are extremely weak when it comes to emitting any UVB light, and the eye damage is caused by very dangerous light rays that have been found to be a by-product of the manufacturing process used to make coil/spiral bulbs. So coil/spiral bulbs of any kind, whether UVB-emitting or just UVA-emitting for the purpose of heat only, should be avoided at all-costs, whether for reptiles/amphibians or birds. I cannot tell you how many reptiles I have personally seen that are either blinded or have developed severe Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) due to their owners/breeders using coil/spiral heat bulbs and/or UVB bulbs...

As far as regular, compact UVA bulbs meant to provide heat (most artificial bulbs specifically marketed for parrots/birds are just regular, "compact" UVA bulbs meant to provide heat, and come in different wattages based on the temperature requirements), they actually were originally developed from the idea that "If it's good for baby chicks of the poultry variety, then it must be okay for parrots too"...Well, this has been proven to be totally untrue, and it makes sense if you think about it...First of all, the heat bulbs that are made specifically for keeping baby poultry warm are usually and should be emitting UVA light through a red lens, so that the color of the light emitted is red. The reason for this is to protect the chick's eyes, as bird's eyes are extremely sensitive to bright white/yellow light. Unfortunately the reptile manufacturers thought that they should do the same for their lights marketed for reptiles, and this is why you see all different colors of reptile UVA and UVB lights available, red being the most-common color. But reptile's eyes are completely different than bird's eyes, and the only color of light you should ever use over certain reptiles is bright white.

So the first problem with putting baby parrots under a heating lamp that actually emits light is that ANY BULB that emits a bright yellow or white color of UVA light is extremely harsh on their young eyes...HOWEVER, the main reason you should not ever put a light of any color on a 2-3 week old chick as a heat source is that chicks that young should be kept in darkness when pulled from the nest-box...A proper Brooder creates an artificial environment that is simulating/mimicking the nest box and the babies being laid on by their mother/parents. It's not just about the temperature, that's only one factor that you need to replicate for chicks that you pull from the nest-box at 2-3 weeks old. Failing to replicate a warm, dark, comforting environment for chicks that young can not only create serious health issues, such as eye and skin damage (think about this for a minute, baby parrots in the wild are not exposed to natural sunlight until they are old enough that mom/dad aren't laying on them 24/7, their young eyes and skin are not exposed to bright, natural sunlight), but can also create behavioral issues as well. And it's not only their eyes, but their skin is paper-thin, translucent, and extremely delicate, and should not be exposed to bright light as a heat source, especially when there are multiple other ways to simply create the proper ambient temperature inside their Brooder/homemade Brooder...

I haven't used a proper Brooder for years, I've been using the box on a heating pad method forever, and I always make sure that they are covered, not only to keep the heat in, but also to keep them in darkness. I think a lot of people think of a Brooder as being the thing that keeps the chicks warm, but they don't realize that it's not just about the temperature, it's about replicating the entire, natural environment the chicks should be kept in. If you want to use a lamp/bulb to keep your chicks warm, then you should do what Itzjbean does and use a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE) bulb in your lamp, which only emits heat and no light.

Okay, thank you very much! I'll ditch the heat lamp and instead by the Ceramic Heat Emitter or I might just invest in a brooder.

Thanks again for the information!