10" Chewguard Light

I bought this light for our cockatiel. Our home doesn’t let in a lot of natural light and, even making an effort to put his cage in front of a window, I worry that he’s not getting enough light. You can tell that this light kit was designed by someone who understands birds and how to make products which are sturdy and safe enough for them. When I saw that the long power cable was protected by steel conduit, I knew that this was the right choice and I wasn’t wrong. After the initial shock of something new on his cage, he immediately seemed to appreciate the new light and he spent several minutes just kind of looking around as if he were seeing his various toys for the first time, which might literally be the case considering that parrots see differently from us, including UV. This light emits UVA but not UVB, meaning that they’ll appreciate the improved visual (to them) spectrum but also that their eyes will be safe from harm. This also means that we’ll need to continue to ensure that they get enough vitamin D through their diet. My homework led me to understand that while full spectrum bulbs (UVA+UVB) can help birds to create vitamin D, there’s significant concern that those bulbs put birds at great risk for cataracts and other eye conditions. This M&M light kit is presumably safe. I bought the 18” model with chew guard. It uses about 11.5W of power according to my meter and remains cool to the touch. Their website indicates that if, in the worst case scenario, the bird was able to get ahold of the unshielded power cable and chew through it, the voltage is too low to cause harm. I’m not using the included timer but instead a smart outlet, and if I were to do it again I’d probably skip the kit with timer and just buy the light with power supply. I’ll be controlling it manually but if I want to set a timer, I can do that through home automation. It’s working great so far. I bought this light kit mostly for his general happiness and to support his circadian rhythm. It’s only been a day but he seems to love it so far and I really couldn’t be happier.

Very happy with this purchase. It is a sturdy light that is bird proof and came with ties that really streamline the light. It’s quiet and bright and fits great.

I only write reviews on products I either love or hate. This, I LOVE. Best bird invention ever. The light itself is great. Easy to install. But, if you want the most out of this light you HAVE to get the programmable dimmer. It’s AMAZING! I wanted to watch the dimming process the first night because I wanted to make sure I had everything programmed correctly, which is very easy to do, but I ended up watching my bird instead. His behavior went from a caged bird to a bird in the wild. As soon as the dimming starts I could see a shift in his body language. He went to one of his favorite places to perch and sleep. He stretched his wings, and yawned and yawned. He also watched the light that first night, I’m sure because it is something new in his cage. I could see him relax and kind of settle down to sleep. It was so cool to see him do what he would do naturally in the wild. So different than before I got the light and dimmer. I’m telling all my bird friends to get this setup. It is just a little bit pricey, but so worth the money. Bucky certainly approves.

Bright, light weight, heavy duty, and easy to install. Very detailed instruction video linked to the QR code in the packaging. Excited to see how much my bird loves it!

I have an African Grey, Wrigley, and I bought the 24 inch light that runs the length of his cage. While I’m not going to spend much time comparing this light to my former light with a rickety stand, and an expensive bulb that lasted for approximately one year, I will say I wish I’d had more information before I bought it. I’ve critiqued this M&M light in enough detail that I hope it’s helpful for anyone considering buying it. This light is one very well thought-out bird light! The light fixture itself is slim and streamlined right out of the box. A sturdy metal grid enclosure protects the LED, and is designed in such a manner that when mounted on top of his cage as directed, Wrigley can’t get at it. That’s saying something because he’s clever, and not easily confounded. The light is an LED - it’s very energy efficient, there’s no heat to worry about, it will last just short of forever, and LED lights are eco-friendly (bonus!). I didn’t realize how dim my former light was until I lit up this light - it floods the full length of his cage with beautiful bright light! No dim areas! The metal covering on the electrical cord running out of the fixture itself is substantial. It’s also super flexible, and surprisingly long. Flexible enough to be trussed to the bars/frame of the cage and keep it away from my bird; and long enough to be routed around the frame of a very large cage, and keep it out of sight. Flat metal zip ties pull super tight to hold the the cord where I place it. Wrigley is not going to get into trouble with that cord! (Caveat: as sturdy as the metal covering is, I’m maniacally careful with any cord cover with my bird. He could bite the bumper off of a truck.) M&M suggests attaching a timer (sold separately) for “consistent lighting intervals,” and I’m glad I took this suggestion. The timer makes turning the light off and on literally hands off. Installation was dummy-proof, and I ought to know because I’m a dummy when it comes to things like this. I had a question or two, and Mark in Customer Service at M&M could not have been more helpful. He told me the company now provides larger, better fitting brackets with the light. He sent me two of them, and they fit perfectly! With the new brackets, it took me approximately 20 minutes to install the light, and route the cord. If Wrigley hadn’t helped me so much, it would’ve taken 15 minutes tops!

Very happy with the bird light. It does a great job for my bird.

My partner and I have a number of pets including sugar gliders, whose cage we put in a finished room in our basement to keep them out of reach of our cats. The only problem with that is that the basement doesn't get much natural light, and for creatures from sunny Australia, that's not too natural for them. After much research, we selected this light as it best mimics the spectrum of natural sunlight and is large enough to illuminate their VERY large cage. THE GOOD: This light is really well protected from paws, claws, and teeth, as is the metal-clad cord. It feels incredibly sturdy and well built. The light it emits is bright and radiant, and when put on a timed outlet, provides adequate "natural" illumination to mimic the daily sun cycle. THE BAD: The included brackets do NOT fit the light whatsoever. Basically, you get a long bar light with 2 wide U-brackets, shaped like this: |___| . You put the light bar down in the seat of the bracket and then affix another bar over the top, with holes for the legs of the bracket and wing nuts that affix them. Here's the problem with that: the brackets I received were not tall enough to affix the bar over the top and still screw on the wing nuts, no matter how hard we tried. We tried multiple positions on the light bar, bracket right side up and upside down, etc. No dice. So if we could not do it just with the light bar, you can imagine that there was no chance the brackets would accommodate both the light bar and the cage bars to affix it. We ended up having to use just the metal zip-ties they intend for you to use for cable management to affix the light bar, as my partner, my dad, and I were all 3 unable to make the bracket work. All in all, the light is great, but be prepared to need additional equipment to mount it if you have stronger pets (such as birds) who might be able to pull it out of the metal zip ties. Perhaps I was just sent the wrong size bracket meant for a smaller light, who knows. It worked out in the end but did NOT have the sound attachment to the cage I had hoped for due to incorrectly sized mounting accessories.

Perfectly lights up our bird cage. He loves it.