FINCHforum

I have just completed an outside aviary and want to move my birds out there appropriately. I have a society and 9 gouldians. The gouldians were outside in an aviary before I got them but I have had them inside for about 2-3 weeks to quarantine them and treat them. When the gouldians were outside they had a small heater by cage at night. I want to stay away from using a heater and really the temps here in Oakland CA are not so bad. I plan to move them inside in the Fall for breeding to get them out of any cold. My question is how/when to move them outside now that I have the aviary? I think we have seen the last of our "cold" weather (30's F at night) but it will likely rain a bit more until early April. Temps are predicted to be lows in the 40's and highs in the 60's over the next week and they should only go up from there. I am not worried about high temps for the summer as we rarely get to the 80s (and especially 90's). Should I wait until April to put them outside or move them now? I can move their present cage to the outside during the day to acclimate them but I am not so anxious to catch all the birds and moving them individually every day. Any advice how to do this with as little stress as possible?
thanks,
Lori

At this point I would wait till the outside temps are the same as the inside temps before I move them outside. Not sure about California temps but I don't think the temps should go below 55 for goulds. Not sure if you be able to get away without some type of heat during your colder days.

Make sure that the aviary has something to protect them from wind/draft. I think like us wind/draft makes the cold feel colder...wind chill.

Maybe install a 60 watt incandescent light bulb in a draft free part of the aviary, with perches nearby. Then they can go to that part of the aviary to keep warm.

First before you even consider putting your birds outside they need to acclimate to the temperatures. This means not putting them outside till the temps are the same as they are in now.

Thanks for the tips! We dont heat the house during the day generally so I think its been getting into the low 60's in the house during the day. We keep it at 55-60 during the night. I will wait a bit to put them outside...no rush. I also like the idea of the incandescent bulb and some protection from wind. We don't get too much wind where we are but I hate drafts too!
Lori

Night-time temps are in high 40's to low 50's where their aviary is. I have been checking regularly. I will probably wait to move them outside until April when temps at night should be consistently in low to mid 50's which is what they are getting in our home at night now. I am also considering using an incandescent bulb in part of the aviary to keep them warm at night as previously suggested. This may be a stupid question but doesn't the light keep them up? I could use one of those reptile heater things if so. I am also thinking of using a thermostat control so I can keep the temp right where I want it.
Given this photo of my aviary where would you recommend I put the heat source?

I thought over in the left corner where there is solid wood might be a good spot as its out of the wind etc (cozy). Anything else I am missing that I should do before moving them?
Thanks for all your help,
Lori

I use the red reptile bulbs.The clamp on lights i get from homedepot or walmart with the metal shade, just set on top of aviary at one end so they can stay close or move when too warm

That sounds good. Do you use a timer with yours?
thanks,
Lori

I don't use a timer but it would work fine with one