It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater ?

rayeast · Post by **rayeast** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 2:56 pm

MY first post. Hello everyone! I just got my first pair of innxhes (Zebra) and thing are going well and the birds are a delight. My landlord is pretty stingy with the heat. Temperature are often below fifty in the middle of the night.
I cover the cage at around 9pm.and am temporarily using a space heater for the whole room.
What are my choices for heating just the cage or part of it?

Post by **Sally** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 5:33 pm

Below 50 is a bit cool, but Zebra finches are hardier than many other species and can tolerate cooler temperatures. If you want to supply heat, and if your cage is large enough that you can put a heat lamp at one end of the cage, leaving the other end as an escape area for the birds to get away from too much heat, then you could use a ceramic heat emitter.

http://www.lllreptile.com/products/2647 ... ramic-bulb

I like these bulbs because they don't emit light at night, so they don't interrupt the birds' sleep cycle. They are pricey, but they last a very long time. I use a clamp-on reflector lamp like this. You want one with a ceramic or porcelain socket, as these bulbs heat up quite a bit and you don't want a fire.

http://www.amazon.com/Bayco-SL-302B3-Br ... +Reflector

With this kind of reflector lamp, you can remove the lamp guards so you can clip the lamp onto the cage, with the lamp facing a perch at one end of the cage. The birds will perch near the lamp if they feel chilly, yet can move away if it gets too warm.

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on finch care and especially on the Zebra finch. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier later on when answering locale-specific questions.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 7:23 pm

I've kept my bird room at 45 degrees F. (nights) for quite a few years, and haven't seen any problems.

Jen · Post by **Jen** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 10:56 pm

rayeast
Welcome to the forum! I live in an older home that gets pretty cold at night. I have a ceramic heat lamp on one end of my cockatiel's ("Sammy") cage. He is a "lone" guy with no nest cuddle buddies so I think he needs extra heat when the wintertime comes my way. I think that if you feel cold then your bird is feeling the cold too.
(I use the clamp on reflector lamp in my outdoor aviary...several of them. I try to keep the aviary about 50F on colder nights) The room that Sammy is in gets pretty cold some nights, probably 55F or so. I think some birds are hardier than others, but if I'm feeling cold, then it bothers me that my birds may be cold....don't know if that's right or wrong?!?!

Best of luck and post pics when you can!

slwatson · Post by **slwatson** » Wed Jan 13, 2016 11:41 am

rayeast

I use an oil filled radiant heater thanks to suggestions from people on the forum. I keep my birds in a large living room that has no central heat and air, and the heater is wonderful. I also use the method Sally mentioned on really cold nights. I have multiple birds with eggs, hatchlings, and fledglings at the moment, so I keep the room fairly warm...above 70F or 75F.

xz_zebs · Post by **xz_zebs** » Wed Jan 13, 2016 2:25 pm

My Zebras live outside unheated in Northern California. It frequently gets down to the mid-30s at night in the winter and they handle it without problems. They even breed and raise chicks in those temps.

tt101 · Post by **tt101** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 1:18 pm

You should have a talk with the land lord. 45 degrees is down right cold. There are laws that protect you as the tenant.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 8:36 pm

tt101, my birds are in an unheated part of my house. That is by my choice, since I own the house. The part that we live in is heated!

I have an electric heater in the bird room, and it keeps that room at 45 degrees F (7.2 degrees C.). I've done that for many years, without any visible problems. Except it seems to delay some finch breeding until the outside weather (and thus the room) is warmer.

tt101 · Post by **tt101** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 8:39 pm

Dave wrote: tt101, my birds are in an unheated part of my house. That is by my choice, since I own the house. The part that we live in is heated!

I have an electric heater in the bird room, and it keeps that room at 45 degrees F (7.2 degrees C.). I've done that for many years, without any visible problems. Except it seems to delay some finch breeding until the outside weather (and thus the room) is warmer.

I wasn't talking in terms of the finches. I was talking in terms of the humans living in the home. That is just way too cold. I keep my house around 24 degrees celcius, so about 72 Fahrenheit. Can't imagine living with 7.2 degrees.

Post by **Sally** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 1:29 pm

tt101 wrote:
Dave wrote: tt101, my birds are in an unheated part of my house. That is by my choice, since I own the house. The part that we live in is heated!

I have an electric heater in the bird room, and it keeps that room at 45 degrees F (7.2 degrees C.). I've done that for many years, without any visible problems. Except it seems to delay some finch breeding until the outside weather (and thus the room) is warmer.
I wasn't talking in terms of the finches. I was talking in terms of the humans living in the home. That is just way too cold. I keep my house around 24 degrees celcius, so about 72 Fahrenheit. Can't imagine living with 7.2 degrees.

Everyone has a different tolerance to temperature. A warm house is uncomfortable for me, though I don't like it too cold either.

Some in my family like it quite cold, so I dress accordingly when I visit them--it is their house after all, they should not have to be uncomfortable just to accommodate me.

tt101 · Post by **tt101** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 4:21 pm

Sally

Yup very true. Everyone is different. My sisters house is HOT, I get so uncomfortable and sweaty in there. When she comes home to our parents house, she turns up the heat, drives mom mad.

slwatson · Post by **slwatson** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:33 pm

Dave

I forgot to say welcome to the forum!

I get what you were saying Dave

My bird room has an air conditioning unit, but that's it, so I had to go buy the oil filled radiant heater (sometimes they're called tower heaters) in case it got too cold in their room. The rest of our house has central heat and air, so it's warmer in those parts than in the bird room.

rayeast · Post by **rayeast** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 7:33 pm

I'm sorry for the delay in a responding to all your information and support. It grew suddenly very busy here. I may very well get a heat lamp for my otherwise thriving birds. I may need a lamp myself. But our tenants group has assailed our landlord in tenant's court with some success. Meanwhile, myself and the finches will have to use my space heater. Close observation of the finches while searching for sweaters (for me ) indicates we all get pretty cold under about 55 F. I turn the heater on well before our teeth/beaks begin to chatter.
Again, thanks and I still have a lot to learn , so I bet I'll have more questions soon.

Post by **Sally** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 2:30 am

When I need space heating, I love the oil-filled radiator types. Mine is digital, so I can set the exact temperature I want to maintain. I think these are safer than those that get so red-hot.

I am using one right now in an unheated, uninsulated shed to keep tropical plants from freezing, and it is doing the trick. I set it at 50 degrees.

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It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater ?

It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater ?

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Re: It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater

Re: It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater

Re: It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater

Re: It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater

Re: It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater

Re: It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater

Re: It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater

Re: It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater

Re: It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater

Re: It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater

Re: It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater

Re: It's cold at night in my apartment...What kind of heater