New member with lighting query

Hello, and thank you for the opportunity to become a member.
Apologies in advance for the length of this post.

Background
I’ve recently brought home a scared 4 month old Fischer’s lovebird and we’re slowly making progress together. Gender not verified, though breeder guessed male.
He’s housed in a flight cage in a smaller second sitting room, where there is also a canary in a separate cage. During the day I spend a lot of my time in this room and he also has a view of the comings & goings of the hallway.
I don’t use the main light in the ‘bird room’ and tend to move to the main sitting room in the evenings. So the birds experience natural UK light patterns. I understand that most pet birds need 12hrs night time - I can use covers to ensure this in the summer.

Issue
My issue currently is how to extend the daylight hours, as some days I’m not at home in the evenings. In its natural habitat, this bird would have almost equal days & nights, all year round. Here today, we have about 8 1/2 hours daylight and this is gradually decreasing as we approach winter.
I have a full spectrum light above the cage to give a bit more brightness (not UV, I give supplements for D3), this lamp is on a timer, but this is an abrupt switch on & off. I’d like to extend the daylight hours with this lamp but feel that it would be alarming & dangerous to let this light suddenly switch off, leaving the bird in darkness.
I’ve been looking at the sunrise/sunset light alarm clocks and wonder if this could be a solution. They gradually increase (for sunrise) and decrease (for sunset) over a 30 minute period, with a morning alarm of either radio or choice of nature or buzzer sounds (or could turn volume to zero).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alarm-Cloc...1-1-spons&keywords=sunrise+sunset+light&psc=1

Question
If I could time one of these sunrise/sunset alarm lamps with a slight overlap with the other lamp, do you think that would be a viable option?
Is too much darkness/night time even a problem with this species?
Does anyone have other suggestions that they have found helpful?

Thanks for reading

Welcome to Parrot Forums!

Great question regarding rapid change in light levels and balancing day and night time light conditions.

It is important to understand that using LED Daylight (not soft light) bulbs can be purchased for dimmer applications. You can also adjust the amount of light in a room by reducing the Wattage of the light bulb used. A 100 Watt bulb will provide greater light than a 40 Watt bulb.

You can also, use two light fixtures (lamps) one with a 40 Watt bulb and the other with a 20 Watt bulb. In this application, one uses a timer that switch both on while the Sun is still shinning and as the evening progresses, have the 40 Watt bulb lamp, which would sit 'nearer' (not next too the Parrot) shut-off first with the 20 Watt bulb sitting farther from the Parrot shutting off later.

NOTE: Supplements for D3 as with all other supplements should only be provided if your Avian Vet (as a result of the findings of blood testing) recommends it for your Parrot. It would be less than common for a Parrot to need D3 supplements.

Sunrise/sunset alarm lamps can be used. As with any light source, do not place them close to your Parrot.

Welcome to you!
Ditto on the above!

Welcome to the forums! Sounds like your little lovie found the perfect place to park his perch. I think Fischer lovebirds are adorable, we'd love to see photos.

Hi Sailboat

Thank you for the reply.
That’s a good option of two lamps of differing wattages. I also have a nightlight in that room too which would help.
I think I’ll have a play around collecting other lamps in the house, using different Watt bulbs & see how it looks, thanks.

With regards to your note on supplements, this bird currently gets no unfiltered sunlight or UV lighting and no fortified pellets, so I don’t think there’s a danger of overdosing.
I understand that natural unfiltered sunlight, specialised avian artificial lighting, fortified foods and supplements are the only sources of D3.
His daily diet is currently a limited quantity of seed mix, vegetables & fruit (which he’s very good at trying but doesn’t yet eat much of) and unlimited TOP’s pellets (which he has eaten a few of).
I did consider using Harrison’s pellets (which ARE fortified), but in my past experience with budgies, I could never get them to eat these other than an occasional nibble. Certainly not to the percentage the company advises. For that reason, I decided to forego the fortified foods and to tackle the D3 via supplements.
That being said, I’m an eager student and will consider all advice given to me.

Thank you all for the welcome, I will certainly post some photos soon.

Welcome! I am glad you are giving this so much thought!

You will find that there is a lot of mixed information on lighting (even within the veterinary community). All believe that it is important for birds to get into a light/dark cycle and all believe in the importance of sleep.
That having been said, the controversy comes into play when discussing UV and/or full spectrum lighting etc.
I personally believe that the benefits CAN outweigh the risks, so long as A) Exposure time is limited and B) The bird is far enough from the light that it is safe from burns, retinal damage and cord chewing. I use a full-spectrum light with my cockatoo, but it does not produce UV rays. There are some lights that produce UV rays though and I know less about them. I will say that birds process vitamin D differently than humans, so light may not actually be necessary in order for them to do so. That having been said, lighting obviously impacts their moods etc.

In the summer etc, I try to keep my bird near the open (screened in) windows more. Glass absorbs a lot of the sunlight that they would get in he wild.
Like I said, there is a ton of controversy about whether birds need this type of lighting (as in, light similar to the sun)...All I know is that I have seen plucking birds stop plucking with light therapy (e.g., happy lights)....Sooo it may just be that they benefit from a bright light (happy lights), as opposed to actual UV lighting. I am not a vet and AGAIN, this area is full of opinions.

But, I digress...

I don't think you should avoid the use of regular indoor lighting in the evenings (just because homes are naturally much darker than the outside world)...It gets very dark in my house before it is dark outside. It is always WAY brighter outside than inside (at any point during the day or evening)...until it actually gets dark.

I am not sure whether abrupt transitions in lighting matter THAT much, but I applaud you for trying to simulate nature to the best of your abilities. I haven't ever considered dimming lights to the extent that you are discussing. I imagine that the type of lighting could definitely have an impact...I do not use LED lights in my house, but I have read that they can cause sleep disruptions in humans, so you might consider that.

Sorry I didn't answer your question!


I will answer one part of it with certainty:


Too much light OR dark is definitely a problem in parrots!

Welcome to you and your Fischer's lovebird! Apprehension is a normal trait for a new bird, might find some helpful tips from this thread: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

Looking forward to pics and learning of your lighting solution.

I'm only going to comment on the Vitamin D3 supplementation, as it's not only totally unnecessary for your bird, as Sailboat and others have told you, but it's the most fat-soluble of all vitamins, and he is at great-risk for Vitamin D toxicity if you give him an extra D3 supplement...Birds do not need/require extra Vitamin D3 in order to absorb any nutrition from their food, not at all. So most-all of that supplement you're giving him is not being used by his body, and is simply going right into his fat-cell storage. He's not a reptile/amphibian, nor any other species that require a surplus of Vitamin D of any kind at all for any cellular processes...Not beyond what he would get from a diet of seeds/grains and veggies. That's it. So again, he's at extreme risk for Vitamin D toxicity, as it's impossible for his body to excrete the excess that his body doesn't use, an that would basically be most if not all of the supplement you're giving him...

Hi Ellen

Thank you for posting your concerns.
I’m confused and certainly do not want to cause vitamin toxicity.

This quote - ‘Hypovitaminosis D3 can easily occur in birds raised indoors. It is advisable to supplement indoor birds that do not have access to natural sunlight with exogenous vitamin D3’
Is from pages 12 & 13 of 20, on the following webpage:
http://avianmedicine.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/31.pdf

I tried to search for more scholarly articles, as there are many pages of internet experts stating opinions and it can be extremely difficult to separate fact from false rumour.

I’m honestly not trying to argue, I’m genuinely trying to understand and do what is best.

Please try to explain vitamin D3 to me.

*What I thought I knew, is that we can gain vitamin D from certain foods, but not D3. There are no natural food sources of vitamin D3. Our bodies create D3 from its vitamin D precursors via sunlight on our skin, or in the case of birds, from oil from their preen gland, that contains vitamin D, being spread over the feathers, and converted by the presence of unfiltered sunlight into D3, and the bird ingesting some of this in the process. Vitamin D3 (not the precursor vitamin D) is needed to regulate absorption of calcium.

Formulated diets have vitamin D3 added, isn’t a supplement doing exactly the same? I could understand a risk of vitamin overdose if I were giving fortified food PLUS supplements but I’m not doing that.

If my understanding here is faulty (which seems to be the case), please point out what I’ve got wrong as I just want to do what’s right for this little guy, and I’m certain that members here have a lot more knowledge & experience than I have.

Fischer, I agree with you and your research. I don't feel comfortable talking about D3 as a supplement though unless it is already in a pellet diet. My birds get sunbathing time, and pellets.