FINCHforum

Help!! Last night our home heater shut off and the house got down to 60. We have Gouldians, Cordon Bleus, Zebras and Spice finches. I know all are affected adversely by cold. I fixed the heater and have heat lamps, halogen flood lights and anything else I can find going to try and warm things back up. Unfortunately the birds are spread around the house so trying to hit all the cages as best I can. Temp has already risen 3 degrees
What should I do now to try and stave off any problems that migh arise from them getting this cold? What signs of illness should I be on the lookout for?
All the birds seem totally oblivious to the fact that it's cold, all are singing and flitting around like normal, eating etc.
Are there budget friendly cage heater that I could buy so that if for some reson the house heating shuts off the birds will still get heat?
Blair

Our house never gets above 60 in the winter. Birds do fine.

For a short period of time they should be fine.
Here in NJ the temperatures today were in the low 30's F and snowing all day. My owls and gouldians spent more time outside their coop then inside where the heat is set at 60F. Granted my birds have been acclimated to outside temps but you'd be surprised how tough these little birds are.
good luck

Even the birds that are more sensitive to cold should be fine down to 50 degrees for short periods of time. As long as you have power, it is easy to provide heat for the birds. Get some of those clamp-on reflectors at Home Depot or Lowe's--I like the ones with the porcelain sockets, as they are heat-resistant. A regular incandescent bulb of 60-100w pointed at one end of each cage will give them a warm area to gather under, or you can even try a higher wattage bulb. Just be sure that the birds have room to move away from the heat if it gets too warm in their cages.

My birdroom stays around 60 in winter, I use heat lamps if it seems chilly, and small portable radiator style heater on bitterly cold days! All seem well and even breed in the chilly 60.

As Sally has already mentioned, one of those "clamp on" reflector shop lamps, placed near one of the high perches should do the trick for each cage. You can get them for less than $10.00 ea. if you shop around. Adjust the distance from the cage or bulb wattage to get the desired temp. Use a blacklight or reptile "nightlight" bulb during the night, so as not to disturb their natural sleep patterns. Bob

I used to have my cages in an unheated, uninsulated shed, and I used those red 'poultry' warming bulbs often used to keep chicks warm. They glow red all night, and don't seem to disturb the birds, though their size makes them less handy. When I first started using them, my neighbors thought my shed was on fire when they saw that red glow through the windows! Fortunately, they noticed that it was a steady glow, not the flickering that you would get from a flame, so the fire department didn't get a call!

In the reptile department, you will find ceramic heat bulbs. They are expensive, but I love these, as they emit good heat without any light at all. I did a search online to find cheaper prices than in the pet shops.

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice. My concerns about the low temps were based on info I read in a few different finch books which said most of the species couldn't tolerate temps below 68 degrees. Good to know I can turn the heat down a bit in the house