Parrots - The Importance of Correct Lighting - Family - Pets

The light is a very important environmental factor for parrots for a number of reasons and so it is very important that your pet parrot receives enough light and the right type of light. Initially the may sound a little strange but I will explain below exactly why this is true.

Most parrots originate from South America, Australia and Central Africa which are all located either on the equator or very near to it, for example Australia is south of the equator and lies on the Tropic of Capricorn. This basically means that the number of hours of daylight these places receive is very high, between 7 and 12 hours of daylight per day.

If you are a parrot owner in North America or Europe then your parrot is now living north of The Tropic of Cancer and is receiving far less daylight per day than found in its natural habitat, especially through those long cold winter months where some days don't seem to have sunlight at all!!!!!

Now at this point you may well be thinking what does that have to do with my pet parrot? Well actually a lot. A parrots eyesight is more developed than most other species of animals including humans, they are able to detect many more shades of color than we can and this is because in the wild the parrot relies solely on its eyesight to locate food and quite heavily for spotting any danger and to help in their mating rituals. Also importantly light directly affects a parrots growth, metabolism and behavior and so you can see it is integral to their health and mental wellbeing.

I mentioned earlier that the right type of light is important and this is just good old basic unfiltered sunlight. It is no good positioning your birdcage near the window at home thinking that everything is ok because unfortunately your windows at home block out the UVA and UVB rays which a parrot actually needs. So unfiltered sunlight is what is required and another word for unfiltered sunlight is full spectrum light. This is light that emits the full spectrum of light without any filtering, so different to a standard light bulb as you couldn't get a suntan from a light bulb because it doesn't emit that part of the light spectrum.

Full spectrum lighting helps parrots regulate and synthesize Vitamin D3 which allows them to absorb the calcium they need from their diet necessary to maintain healthy bones and keep their beak in good shape. This type of light also helps with the growth of healthy feathers as well as regulating molting and the reproductive cycle in parrots.

So as a parrot owner it is absolutely essential that you invest in a good quality full spectrum light and I strongly suggest purchasing a timer as well in order to set up regular and consistent lighting periods. The exact length of time that your parrot requires light for will be specific to the individual species but as I mentioned earlier your parrots natural habitat where they have evolved would have had plenty of light every day and you need to find out your parrots specific requirements.. You should try and get your parrot into a regular pattern regarding their light intake as this will prevent your parrot from showing any signs of aggression or depression.

I have only touched on a few of the reasons that parrot lighting is so important but I hope you can see that the lighting requirements for your parrot are extremely important and it is a vital ingredient in recreating an environment that your parrot will thrive, be happy and healthy in.

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