HEALTH

Dear Dr. Rob, Let me begin by first telling you how much I enjoyed your books and your products. I recently switched to your products and health programmes and my finches have never been healthier or happier. I do, however, have a few questions that I hope you can help with: (1) Laraine mentions in one of her very informative articles that, due to the high pH of the municipal water source in her area, she uses Megamix in the water everyday that she does not use KD. Do you agree with this approach? If so, at what pH level should this approach be adopted? I ask because the water supply in Philadelphia has a high pH value as well. (2) I recently added full-spectrum lighting to my care regimen. I'm finding it difficult to find a definitive answer regarding how long to use the light each day. The light sits several inches over the cage and the cage is approximately 48" tall. The bulb is 15 Watts, has a color temperature of 5500K, has a CRI of 91, and provides UVA 4% and UVB 0.05%. I've been advised to use the light no more than 2 to 3 hours each day. Does this seem correct to you? Should I be gradually increasing/decreasing the photoperiod throughout the year? My finches' cage is in within several feet of a window, so they do benefit from the seasonal photoperiod changes from that. (3) I'm finding it difficult locating a source of freshly-cut seeding grasses. Do you have any suggestions as to where to search? Local farmers? On-line suppliers? Since I live in a big (and polluted) city, I am afraid to gather anything from local fields, the side of the road, etc. (4) Lastly, do you recommend misting finches? My finches are loath to use the bathtub I provide on a daily basis (perhaps they prefer something more shallow or something that does not sit on the bottom of the cage?) but seem to have an equal disdain for the mist bottle. A local bird store has a mister that provides a constant mist based on water pressure. This eliminates the sound the mist bottle makes each time the trigger is pulled. Do you think they would respond to this product any better? Please excuse the length of this message and the number of questions. Thanks in advance for your help and thanks again for your wonderful books and products. We (and our birds) benefit greatly from them. Cheers.