The Vita-Lamp has a longer warranty, but otherwise they're identical. I've heard better things about FeatherBrite though.

EDIT: They might not be identical. The Vita-Lamp doesn't have a wavelength breakdown, but for birds it would have to be very similar to the FeatherBrite's wavelengths.

 

I have a featherbrite and love it...never heard of the other before.

 

That's a good price for the Featherbright one! I paid $10.00 more plus shipping from Amazon. Darn!

 

The 28,000 hours might be a typo, this ebay auction says it's rated for 8,000 hours which seems more normal: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2FOR-2-compact-LIGHT-BULBS-VITAL-LAMP-FULL-SPECTRUM-/200851786821

I found a website that gives the UVB specifications. It's good! http://www.kingscages.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=FB Vital 20 Watt I don't know where they got their information though, it isn't on the box unless the box has been redesigned. This site says the bulb is rated for 10,000 hours, which is what it says on the box. The Feather Brite box doesn't talk about the UV output either so both boxes are similar in that respect.

20 watts will give you a brighter light than 15 watts without being ridiculous about it. I actually have two full spectrum lights and this is one of them. I was trying to buy the Featherbrite 20W (which apparently isn't made any more) and the company sent me one of these instead. I was mad about it at first, but it seems to be a decent FS bulb.

BTW the Vital-Lamp used to be called Vita-Lite, and had a good reputation under that name. According to the fine print at the bottom of http://birdsupplysales.ashopcart.com/catalogue.php?cat=63 the old manufacturer went out of business but these bulbs are being made at the same factory (in China, ack!). Hopefully the quality is still the same.

 

Well since my order had to be in by midnight last night in order to get the valentine discount... I went ahead and got 2 of the featherbrite just to be on the safe side, since that seems to be the one mentioned most on this site. I think it's worth the extra couple of buck for peace of mind that I'm getting a good product. Thank you all so much for the info and helping make up my mind.

 

I order featherbrite, straight from www.featherbrite.com. It is $20 and they never charge shipping for me.

 

Any good recommended ones in the uk? I really don't know where to start with this and want to get it right

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

I don't know what brands are available in the UK, but a pet store or a pet supplies website would be a good place to start looking. You want a CRI in the 90s, UVA rating around 4%, UVB rating of .05% (aka 5.0), and the preferred color temperature is about 5500K. FS bulbs for humans frequently don't mention UV output and might not have any at all, but FS bulbs for pets are more likely to mention the UV. Do NOT get a reptile bulb with UVB of 10.0, that's too strong for birds.