cold night's sleep

Miss_kaos · Post by **Miss_kaos** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:48 pm

hey I have one 8 month old irn (birdbird) and where i am in Australia it's winter... it is cold ere especially at night through to early morning being the coldest (obviously) lol :roll:

and i have a 4-5ft by about 2.5 ft aluminum outside cage which i have sheltered each of the the two back corners and it has a roof but i dont know if it's still too cold. i bring him in and he will sleep inside wit me but some nights i am not home... i was thinking of making a sleeping box for him but not sure if he will use it, how many people have these for their birds and do they use it??
or any other suggestions..

thanks

Donna · Post by **Donna** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:47 am

Reearn I'm sorry I didn't see this post before I replied to your PM. I PM'ed you with my opinion on this subject hope it helps!!

Donna

julie · Post by **julie** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:56 am

Donna wrote:Reearn I'm sorry I didn't see this post before I replied to your PM. I PM'ed you with my opinion on this subject hope it helps!!

Donna

I dont want to be rude but can you tell the rest of us please. I wanna know the answer too.

Donna · Post by **Donna** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:18 am

I'm sorry here is exactly what I said in my Pm to her.

Hi Reearn Thank you for the wonderful complement. As for Birdbird (love the name) I would bring him in and let him live in the house all year around. I don't know where you are located but I'm in the US and live in the state of Michigan were the temps even in the summer get pretty cold at night for my birds to be outside. I have 10 birds ranging from macaw,cockatoo, to IRN's and none of them are out side except on nice warm days. I have noticed that some of our members have outside aviary's for breeding them but those birds usually have a nest box they can huddle down in if it gets to cold. I don't think your bird would use a box to get out of the cold if he is by himself. So my thought and opinion would be let him stay in the house and just use the outside cage on nice warm days where he can enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. And Another reason I wouldn't keep him outside is snakes and rodents see little birds as a meal. I'm glad that you felt that I would give you good advise but if you feel you need more opinions then by all means post this question on the board, never hurts to get someone else's view on this subject.

Thank you again Talk to ya later!! Donna

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:36 pm

My IRNs have handled temperatures below zero Celsius. They are quite hardy and resilient to cold weather due to their built-in down jacket, high metabolism, and advanced circulatory system that distributes heat past their fat-laden feet down to their toenails. Ever trim a small amount of toenail keratin and you draw a considerable amount of blood right away? That's how fine-tuned their circulatory system is which also serves a secondary function as a heating/cooling mechanism.

When birds are cold, they puff up their feathers to form pockets of warm air that serve as efficient insulators. The problem is when it gets windy. The draft breaks down the feather pockets and cold air seeps into the surface of the skin. This is why it is important to keep birds away from wind sources when the temperature is cold. If you have to put your birds in outside aviaries, shelter them from the wind.

What I did for my aviary birds is I installed wind barriers that overhang the side of the cages by 18 inches. It protects the birds when they are perched or when they sleep hanging on the corners (which IRNs love to do :roll:

)

Anyway, my point is as long as you are not way below zero Celsius, there's nothing to worry about. I heard Brisbane has mild winters. How low does the temperature get at your locale?

julie · Post by **julie** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:11 pm

IM in wagga wagga, closer to Melbourne and Sydney than Brisbane and tomorrow its supposed to be so cold that it may snow :shock:

My aviary birds have a wind block and seem to be doing ok, Im going to the hardware shop to get some extra protection from the cold for them today.

Miss_kaos · Post by **Miss_kaos** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:20 pm

hey thank u all for your replies and suggestions i have found them useful. I Have made my own wind barriers for birdbird And i now have a cover for the back of my cage as well...

I would have him inside, i even got an cage for inside built when they were doing my outside cage (which is a fair height off the ground So no worries about snakes, plus wire is too small). The inside cage is a big cage (especially for one bird) but my bird just hates being inside during the day wind, shine or frost the crazy little bugger lol. so the longest i keep him in that cage is overnight (when he isn't sleeping next to me) lol. unless it is a storm, too windy or something, then tough, he has to be in there when i dont have him on me.
i'm also not home all day to supervise him if i kept him out of the cage inside.
As for sub zero temperatures, no its not that extreme but still gets very cold.

Elizabeth · Post by **Elizabeth** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:59 pm

Hi, I'm in Tasmania and it is reaching 5 degrees C here (as you'd know seeing the news!) but it never snows like Melbourne and Sydney recently have. Sorry I don't think i read where you are. . .Brisbane

Anyway wherever you are in Australia, its probably best to have him indoors overnight when you can, but constantly taking him in and out would be a hazard (warm/cold).

I have finches in a small aviary like you explained (is yours like one of those at www.animaltuckerbox.com.au) anyway its also aluminium and most aviculturists have warned about keeping birds in these cold aviaries. So i moved mine into the patio and none have since died.

Tassie is supposed to be cold, but it doesn't ever get snow or extremes of temperatures. Snow would kill a bird in an aluminium aviary for sure.

A young bird outside in an aviary needs something warm, aviary birds normally have other birds to snuggle to and nests.