I think Mango has calcium deficiency his beak is sort of transparent at the tip and he has a Mineral block but hasn't used it yet Loki is always using it lol and he came shopping today and got him lots of fruit and lots of dark leafy greens Parsley,Celery and I forget the other and its all diced up so he got some of that for Dinner.Ill grate some of the Mineral block into his food.My Aunts conure Cracker had a calcium deficiency and he went to the vet and she grated cuttle bone into her food.I dont have a cuttle bone because all the birds seem to like Mineral blocks and never touch the cuttle bone.Ill post pictures of Mango going shopping later.

Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption so he needs some of that too. You can't get it from plant foods, but it's in pellets. It's also possible to buy vitamin supplements that have it, but you have to be careful with those because it's possible to overdose.

Wild birds get their vitamin D from a chemical reaction between the skin and the UVB rays in sunlight. But the amount of UVB varies depending on where you are and what time of year it is. Ireland is the same latitude as central Canada, and in winter the amount of UVB in the sunlight is going to be pretty close to zero.

U can get lighrs provide vitami s sun normally do.

It's hard to provide vitamin D using full spectrum lights because their UVB output is so unreliable. You can't tell how much if any UVB is being delivered unless you have an expensive light meter. I have a huge article about full spectrum lights here: http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/i ... hting.html

Oh really. I was thinking of getting one. Cuse zorros cage is a bit dark. My room has light on one side. (Kinda dumb 4 a huge master bedroom.

A full spectrum light made for birds is iffy for providing UVB for vitamin D, but it's great for providing UVA for visual enrichment. Humans can't see into the UVA part of the spectrum so our ordinary lights don't provide this wavelength. But birds can see into that part of the spectrum, which means that they can see colors that we can't see if they have the right lighting. A full spectrum light helps them use their whole visual range not just the part that we can see. I have a full spectrum light in the bird room but it's there for visual enrichment. I don't depend on it for vitamin D because it's very questionable whether it's actually providing any.

How does it mount?

If you get the Feather Brite or the Avian Sun it screws in like an ordinary light bulb. There are some other bulbs that are long fluorescent tubes and you need a fluorescent light fixture for those. I bought a cheap brooder clamp lamp from Walmart and turned it into a swag light that hangs over the cage. Feather Brite has a nice swag light fixture but it's expensive.



Most of the birds leave it alone but one of the chicks was a goof who liked to hang off of it. So you need to keep an eye out for safety if you go with a "do it yourself" fixture.

Thanks he doesn't be outside much because its cold.How exactly do u know if they have a calcium deficiency

Ask the vet