New Member and full spectrum lamp worry

alicoops

Registered
Hi my name's Alison and we have a Blue Crowned Amazon, although I've been told it's a blue fronted!! He's called Alfie and he's 15. We've had him from 1 year of age. Today Alfie had a trip to the vet. For the last couple of weeks he doesn't seem to eat much and doesn't squawk about like he normally does. Most of the day he sits fluffed up with his head back in his wings, very unlike him. He used to come out of the cage and sit on my head and fly around but we've had a dog for the past 4 years and things have changed. Alfie loves my dog but my dog isn't keen on Alfie and I won't take chances so Alfie stays in his cage. On the odd occasion we've got him out, he'll sit on the cage and within a few minutes he's back inside. He has a nice big cage with toys and it sits at one end of our lounge/diner in about the only place we can put him, by the patio doors. The curtains are pulled at night and he has a cover for his cage. The vet said his body condition is good, I was surprised as hes eaten very little the last couple of days so I thought he'd have got skinny, but his feathers don't look wonderful, having a moult. He saw him poo and he said it's not right, quite runny. He's sent off poo samples for tests and wants those results before he thinks about blood tests. He said had we got a UV light. We've had two and they've gone wrong. He hasn't had one for years. Also he said we should get a heat lamp! I don't really want one, we have our heating on and he's covered at night. I, for one, won't go out for any length of time, out the home and leave one of them on I'm afraid. Tomorrow we are off to a place not many miles from us who are specialists in parrots, reptiles, etc. I'm unsure now of full spectrum lamps. If you go on YouTube - Mark Schack - Full Spectrum Lamp Myth Revealed. It's really put me off as it looks as though it's all completely untrue and we are wasting our money! Oh what to do. I'd love some feedback from any of you people about heat lamps and UV lamps also. Thank you.
 
Hi Alison! :welcome: to the Parrot Club! Awwww Alfie sounds like such a lovely bird. Sorry he is having some problems now. You did well to take him to the vet. Was he an avian vet? It does sound like Alfie is not quite right... and you knowing him best, picked that up.

The first thing to do if you suspect a bird is ill is to provide extra heat, so that the bird doesn't have to waste energy keeping warm. So yes, despite the house being warm a heat lamp is a good idea, but be careful not to place it too close as they can cause burning and in the worst case cancerous growths. It should be placed at the correct distance over part of the cage so that the bird can get away from it if need be.

I agree that the benefits of a full spectrum lamp is kind of a myth. But I have them so that my birds can see properly under the UV light. They also provide heat.

I had an Avitech heat panel that a friend kindly sent me from the US which was so great for my oldest bird, Chico for some years... until I dropped it last year. He used to sit next to it in the winter, despite the house being well heated. Instead I have an oil heater by his cage for extra heat. Something similar to this:


But I have now ordered a small heat panel (at huge expense!!):


This is either for Chico or Ollie who was ill recently.

The UV lamps I have are these:

 
Hi and welcome to the forum
Totally sound advice as ever by Roz :) awesome lady who knows her apples from her plums and an ammie addict too!
I have uva/uvb lights on all day on each of my 5 indoor cages (I have three greys, and two amazons)
Yup read all of the myth stuff long time ago information was originally posted on line in 2005 by a building company and the info adapted by the person you quote, see he also sells his own lighting bulbs.....
Anyways besides the point ….. to light up or not to light up ….. for me no brainer they have their own bulbs on all day long so they can see how they are supposed to see in their own wave length not mine. And there are still benefits to the lighting and it doesn't use much power wise.
We have a bulb thread on here I did comparing prices ….. I use the Trixie bulbs or sometimes the Lucky Herp bulb you can get from Amazon.
Both cheaper than the Arcadia bird bulb and even cheaper than the Avian Sun bulb.
Although it has always been stated that each bulb needs its own fitment the avian sun won't fit in an arcadia etc ….. Errrr did a thread on here with pictures and got hold of one of each bulb and fitted each one in turn into the arcadia fitment. I currently have a Trixie fitted into an avian sun stand and Trixie in four of the arcadia holders ….. For me no brainer ,,, £13.95 each ordered n from my local pet supplier direct from Germany, My birds all get a tiny pinch of Nutrobal vitamin and mineral supplement once a week to ensure they get everything they need, a tub last for over a year.
Runny poop is a whole new ball game though as is sitting fluffed up all the time. Definitely an avian vet visit. Poorly birdies need extra warmth as Roz said. My house is set at 21 degrees all day every day all year day and night time as one of my birds is a nudist.
Your bird also needs to come out of his cage on a regular basis the reason he's dashing back in is he's becoming kind of cage bound in his mind. Hmmmm think agoraphobia in a human the less you do it the harder it is to do it ..... Needs to come out and exercise those wings and chest muscles. Even if it is just for half an hour every morning and every night. Obviously when the dog is not there though or is perhaps safely and securely closed off into another room.
 
:welcome: from me and my flock. ll good advice given. Do let us know how you get on And can we have a photo please .:thumbsup:
 
To pick up on the weight, it is often difficult to see if they are under/normal/over. Moults at various stages make it harder to spot too. For smaller birds, a difference of a few grams is significant. It is a very good gauge of general condition, so we weigh our birds every 2-3 weeks or so. Not that they currently have any issues with weight, but young Jardine Jessie has recently reached full adult weight and Eclectus Frankie was underweight when we got him so I am trying to get a consistent reading for both of them. If I suspect a problem I can check against the normal reading and I can provide that info to the A/V if we have to see him.

Weighing is a routine that they are both getting used to. We have a home made T-stand on a digital kitchen scale that measures in one gram intervals. The birds can be encouraged on to the stand with a favourite piece of food. To get a consistent reading, we weigh them first thing in the morning, after their first poo and before they have any food. It takes a few seconds.
 
May be good advice but we bought one the other year, it lasted less than a day, someone dismantled it (avian culprit), too expensive to buy another 24 hour lamp. As we do not have any ill birds though I can not recommend anything else unfortunately.
 
Hi I've just ordered a zoo med lamp and a bulb, ours won't break as Alfie doesn't come out and if he did it's not attached to cage so I could move it. Not bothering with heat lamp though. He hasn't deteriorated at all, about the same, just waiting for results of poo samples, might know Monday or Tuesday
 
Hi Alison, there has been a recent problem with some avian lamps, they are manufactures faults and not caused by the birds, still trying to work out if you have a amazon or a conure. when you say Alfie dose not come out the cage, do you give him the opportunity by leaving the cage open while you are there? birds need exercise to keep well. good luck on the results.
 
Back
Top Bottom