What is too cold ??

[Aldeleen]

Hi everyone !! I have a question and i hope that some of you can help me out..

I have 2 female ringnecks-- my older female is 6years old and my baby is now about 8 months old and i live in Johannesburg South Africa.
My older female is a bit more adapted to sleeping in different cages but my baby girl is very unsure about sleeping anywhere else than their big cage that is outside on the balcony. The balcony is not fully exposed and we live on the 2nd floor.
We are heading for winter and Autumn is already knocking. I am paranoid about the temperature outside and after many bewildering tries -- trying to get the 2 to sleep inside in a different cage seems not to be working at all .. my baby tries with all her might to get out and she halfway succeeds.
I reverded back to letting them sleep outside-- I put like 10 thick blank blankets over the cage and push it against the wall so that it is full covered and tightly wrapped. I do that at 6pm everyday.

However -- im doing that because i have too and not because i want to - i would prefer them sleeping inside...

Does anyone know what is the lowerst temperature these birdies can endure..(comfortably) and whether its even a good thing to expose them to low temperatures?
In south africa the winters are chill and range from -2, -3 at night and to about 10 - 20 degrees in the day. May- July.

I'm not planning to leave them outiside the entire winter period--just until en May(we are moving) but very worried that i will envlict harm unto my birdies without knowimg better..

Please can you guys let me know what you do with cold temperatures-- maybe a infra-red light installed even ?

Thank you

[daniele]

i too would be interested in finding out what other people do as we are approaching winter here as well. we keep our birds cages outside so that's where they sleep. we have cafe blinds to protect them from the wind, rain, etc.. but these don't stop the cold getting in. you know i think birds can probably handle pretty cold conditions.. just think what all those birds out in the wild do?? they probably get pretty damn cold but they survive. saying that we love our fiddies and don't want them to be freezing if they don't have to be. we thought about getting heat lamps.. the ones people get for their reptiles that don't emit any light. they're pretty damn expensive and i think heaters of any kind run the risk of dehydrating your bird and i would rather our birds be a little bit cold then dehydrated. i've seen these little closed in hammock things at the pet store made out of faux fur, fluff really. they hang in the cage and they're more or less a little tunnel for them to crawl into. i will probably make my own this winter. the fluffy stuff worries me because i hate the idea of one of them ingesting it somehow. i worry about them suffocating in there. i worry about mice wanting to crawl in there too.. but i worry a lot.. about EVERYTHING ha ha! does anyone use these little things and can shed some light on their effectiveness?

[McmillanBirds]

Hi there

I live in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, so I have an idea of what the temps are there. I honestly would not be able to tell you what the coldest temp a ringneck or any other parrot for that matter can withstand, but I can answer this question for you.

If your ringnecks have gradually become accustomed to being outside their bodies should naturally acclimatise to the temps. It would be a complete different matter if they are used to being indoors and then suddenly put outside in the middle of winter.

Your birds should be fine, especially as they are being covered at night. My pet birds are on the verandah too, and covered when the air starts to get a cold nip to it. Whereas my aviary birds do not get covered( other than the back and partial side walls and roofing of their aviaries) and they do not seem any the worse for wear during winter.

All the best
Carmen