Heating a cage in an outdoor enclosed patio

[carcoozie]

Hi all! Since this past spring, I have kept my birds on an enclosed (glassed in) porch. I can open the windows during the heat, however, now it is going to start getting cold - I live in North Florida.
I bought one of those reptile lamps and have an infared heat bulb in it and have placed it over one of the perches.
A couple of questions - do you think I need to wrap the cage with something to keep heat in? Also - how cold is too cold? (Society finch).
Also - it says that it "won't disturb the sleep patterns of your animal" but it seems really bright. The first night I used it - I looked out there at 4am (pitch dark) and my bird was very obviously awake. Is there a different type of heat bulb or is this the correct type?

Thank you for your help.

[Sally]

Several years ago, I kept some birds in an outdoor unheated shed. Temps in north Texas can get down in the 20's once in a while in winter. This was Stars, Zebras, and Diamond Doves in cages that were 30x18x36 high. I placed a red heat bulb in one of those clamp-on reflectors--the bulbs, meant for poultry, came from the feed store, and the reflectors had ceramic bases. I hung one unit on each cage, next to one of the perches. All the birds did fine all winter. They had plenty of warmth from the heat bulbs, yet could get away from it when they wanted. I also didn't have a problem with them being bothered by the red light from the bulbs. When I used clear bulbs, it was like daylight all night, so those didn't work. And I did not wrap the cages. Being inside the shed (with lots of windows, too) protected them from drafts.

[carcoozie]

Thank you for the information, Sally. That sounds very similar to my setup. It very rarely gets below freezing here (maybe 2-3 times a year). Did you keep the lamp on all the time, or just when it was going to get below a certain temperature?

Thanks!

[poohbear]

Heat lamps that give out no light are available...

http://www.chicken-house.co.uk/acatalog ... b.html#a20

[Sally]

Well duh, I think I am getting more absent-minded each day! I have some of those ceramic heat lamps, too, both in 60w and 100w, and as Paul said, those don't give out any light at all, they are just heaters, and so they are perfect--just a little more expensive than the other kind of bulbs. They are sold in the reptile section of Petsmart and other pet shops, but they can be found online a lot cheaper.

When I used those red heat bulbs, my shed just glowed, and one of my neighbors at first thought it was on fire! Good thing he didn't call out the fire department!

[procfamily]

I'm near melbourne beach and I have the red heat lamps going whenever the temperatures drop below 60 degrees . my porch is screened in and covered but no glass. the birds can chose to be near the lamps or not.

and your right.... it does look like the porch is on fire!!

[carcoozie]

Thank you all for the information. I will keep a lookout for those other heat bulbs as well. Makes me feel a lot better about my setup that yall have had similar and the birds did well.
Thank you!