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I am sure this topic has been covered before, but I couldn't find a posting about it.

Winter is coming...this is my first winter with a 'tiel. What is a good temp to have your house at? Also, any other kind of warming tricks to use? I do have a cover that we put on at night. I have heard about heated perches, electric pads. What is good and what is not good to use?

THANKS!

We had a Casper, too! He was a joy! We lost him a couple of years ago at age 14.

I have a microwavable hotpack that I got when I pulled a muscle in my back. It slips in a fabric belt that is just big enough to wrap and Velcro around the cage. I put that under the cage cover on cold nights and it stays warm for several hours.

You should be able to find them at any drug store. I think it cost around $5.00.

I will definitely check into that hotpack. I was just a little concerned about anything electrical being near them. I put a call into my vet, but she is out today so I asked that she call me back at her convenience. This is not a pressing thing...here in Vegas, it is still pretty comfortable at night, but I didn't want to wait until it was too late and she was chilly!

Well, I certainly hope that I get at least 14 great years from my Casper. She is a joy.

Lisa, I don't think you'll have to worry about temperature in Vegas, even tho I know it can get pretty cold there. Unless you keep your house below 60 degrees, they should not need any extra heat. A lot would depend on how the bird was raised, and in what climate. All but one of mine were hatched / raised / weaned outside, here in GA. I keep the house at 72 degrees at night, and about 76 in the daytime, depending on how comfortable I am. What is comfortable for you should be OK for your bird, unless you are like a penguin :-) In fact, last week, the breeder I got my babies from did not even cover the aviary when the temp went down to about 35 degrees.. I don't fully agree with that, but he does produce healthy birds, and recommends them to stay outside. Hard to enjoy a pet when they are outside tho..

Chibi-Tori -

After you mentioned the uncovered aviary, that made me think of something we saw 2 weekends ago. We went to a place called Bonnie Springs here, just a little bit out of town. They have lots of animals there. There was a huge cage with probably about 30-40 tiels in it. And this was outside. So I am guessing that they do ok. Like you said, depends on how they were raised.
I am sure our place will be warm enough for Casper. We have lovebirds and hamsters that have been with us through Vegas winters and were AOK.

THANKS!

We keep our house 60 during the night and day when we're gone and 68-70 degrees when we're home. Twinkie-Dink (our Tiel) seems fine with it. She's never been sick. I cover everyone at night and let the sun shine in during the day. Each birdie has a Snuggle-Buddy to stand next to if they feel cold. Annie, my Too, is ALWAYS tearing hers down though.
Gloria

I just checked out that Snuggle-Buddy website before I read your post! Did you have to order yours or are they sold locally anywhere?

I bought mine locally. I RARELY order anything off the internet.
Gloria

My tiel enjoys the colder weather more than he does the warm weather. I think as long as you think the house is warm enough for you, he should be fine too & keep him away from any drafts.

Gloria Jean,

I'm familiar with the snuggle buddy, but if it's like one of those things that the bird can actually crawl into, please be very watchful about it. There have been numerous reports of birds being killed by strangulation after tearing open the liner, then getting their heads stuck in a hole. I think that product was called the snuggle hut, or something hut. Looks to be made out of some type of fleece, and has a liner. There were some links associated with the incidents, but I don't recall which message board they came from... perhaps the NCS board before they kicked everybody but members off. At any rate, as you know, anything that has threads they can get to could be a hazard if birdy gets toes / feet / neck hung up in them.

Another suggestion that my Vet mentioned which is very inexpensive is to just fill up a big Liter pop bottle with very warm water and put that in the cage....the bird can go to it and warm up during the night if need be. Or put hot water in it but wrap it in a towel and that would last longer.