FEATURE


aviaries and bird rooms are death traps for birds since little or no UVB light reaches the budgies themselves. It gets worse. Even “full spectrum” fluorescent lights lack UVB light. They produce the wrong sort of UV light, that is UVA. While certain foods contain Vitamin D3 such as cod liver oil, this is a messy and dangerous supplement that does far too little to help. It may assist in safe egg laying and other calcium issues, but not much more.


So I decided twelve months ago to try some experiments. My birds had sadly ceased breeding in their fully enclosed aviaries with glass or clear fibreglass roofs and windows.


1 I removed all of my glass windows and doors. I also removed all of the clear fibreglass roofing.


2 I installed reptile versions of full spectrum lights which had a fair amount of UVB emissions (timed to come on when I was absent).


3 I approached a local bird medications company (Vetafarm) in Australia to create a new supplement which was high in Vitamin D3 and which could be added to the birds’ water. In this, I am indebted to avian veterinarian Dr. Tony Gestier of Vetafarm.


It’s now a year later. The results are spectacular. Although I have discontinued all the fiddly food


BIRD SCENE 09 25


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