FINCHforum

Hi Everyone,

I live in Southern California and house 6 lady Gouldians as well as 4 Scarlet Chested parakeets in a 4x8 foot aviary outdoors. There is a protected area so the birds can be protected from wind. Also the entire roof of the aviary is covered with corrugated plastic so when it rains things will not get wet. At night the birds roost in the protected area and currently one of my pairs is sitting on eggs in that area.
It is starting to get cold at night (sometimes as low as 55 degrees). Should I install a heater in the covered part? What type? I was thinking a heat lamp of some sort...HOw do I protect my birds from getting burned from it?
Also, I was thinking of covering the sides of my aviary with a roll down plastic at night and/or on cold days any suggestions on what to use? Any advise or tips would be great!

Thank you so much,
Natalie

Covering the outside with vinyl would help ,as for the heat I would get a ceramic heat emmiter and make a wire cage around it and hang in the roost area so they can be close or away from the heat there choice

I have a similar question, but in my case I need the heater for indoor use. How much wattage for ceramic heat emitter do you guys think is enough for birds that are located in an heated room(indoor), but still gets around 50s during severe winter-days?

thanks

I am from Orange County, my birds stayed in an unheated aviary w/ similar set up like yours and they made it well last winter without any heat-lamp. There were nights it dropped to 40-44 F.

If you ever decide not to put the heat like I did, make sure you keep an eye on the birds every morning to see if they still do well, especially after a very cold night. Some suggest that you set a light with a timer for them to stay in the dark only 9 hours per night but I did not try it.

Just what I did to my birds, do not know if it works for your case or not, by the way, my birds are Gouldians and Owls.

JAVA-WACKEEZ wrote:I have a similar question, but in my case I need the heater for indoor use. How much wattage for ceramic heat emitter do you guys think is enough for birds that are located in an heated room(indoor), but still gets around 50s during severe winter-days?

thanks

I think those ceramic heat emitters come in 60w, 100w and 150w, and in a heated room, I would think 60w would be sufficient if it is a cage. Even with the lower wattage, I would place the heat emitter so that the birds can get under or next to it, and then move away to a cooler area if they need to.

I am from Orange County, my birds stayed in an unheated aviary w/ similar set up like yours and they made it well last winter without any heat-lamp. There were nights it dropped to 40-44 F.

Do you cover your aviary during the winter?
Thanks

Here is my aviary:

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... 4&start=15

I agree ceramic is best, avoid any heaters that have coils coated in teflon. When I had my aviary outside I used a long ceramic heater and used tarps that rolled gown and secured to the bottom and sides to keep the warm air in and cold winds out.

Vent a a small area away from the birds (not to give them a draft) wenting will allow some of the heat to escape so it does not become overly warm. The heat may be drying so provide plenty of water in a warm area to drink and bathe in.

I live in Florida, the nights can get below freezing in the winter and warm back up to the 70's and 80's during the day.

I use heaters in my aviaries when the temp drops below 50 degrees. They seem to do fine at 50, but I don't want to chance it any lower.

It is my understanding that if they are slowly acclimated to living outside that they thrive in areas that don't drop considerably low in temps.. but offering a heat source like a ceramic heat emitter will not hurt your chances!

I also have heard from individuals in California that have outdoor aviaries that during the winter, an important aspect for a "nightlight" outside of providing warmth is simply to provide light - allowing the birds to occasionally eat during the night allows them to also produce body heat by burning the calories in the food.

If they can eat during the night, they will also stay a bit warmer than if they were just left in pitch dark throughout cold winter nights.

Agreed that a lighted area with food available(especially high carbs like millet spray) is a great help. Also the light will offer warmth. I use an oil filled electric radiator. Super safe. (when first bought I run on high for a few hours to burn any toxic oil coating/paint fumes off)
I place a large flight cage over top and have seen some birds roost on top of the cage wire. Some birds never approach the heat source. So I believe birds are like people...some are cold natured...some not. I also have a roof and I enclose the whole thing in heavy grade plastic. Most days the main door is propped open because the sun heats it like a green house. The floor is concrete and retains heat for many hours throughout the night. Since yours gets direct sunlight you could add water filled black containers that would act as solar heat collectors....free and they put out an amazing amount of heat.

My minimum temp has always been 50 for gouldians but 60 is better ....I can tell by watching the birds, they are so much more lively at a higher temperature.