warm weather

[sharon]

hi, i have a small avery in my garden and two budgies in it with some zebra finches. The finches are fine but when it gets to midday the budgies start panting, they have a big bowl of water to get in and i have a electric fan blowing in from the outside but they still pant, they have boxes to get shade from. Any ideas on anything else to try and keep them cool. thanks Sharon.

[classylady]

Hi Sharon, I don't know where you come from but if it's the UK I guess that this exceptional weather is too much for them.. as it is for many of us. The only thing I can think of is to bring them inside until it gets cooler, use a normal cage and then when a lot cooler put them back into the aviary. I just think it isn't fair to them in this heat even if they have plenty of water, shade etc etc.... it's cooler indoors with a cool fan in the room.... just hope you can do that as I really feel for them out there in this blistering heat.

best wishes
CL

[sharon]

thanks for the reply, i have no cage for them to come indoors. we live in pontefract, west yorkshire. thankyou, Sharon.

[Scott]

The heat is something else, today is meant to be hotter still!

Do you offer some other shade in the aviary apart from boxes, if its catches the midday sun even boxes would be extremely hot, plants can offer shade or cover an area of the mesh with something that would protect part of the aviary from exposure.

[Tigriz]

Not sure what you can do in this situation if you don't have another cage to bring them into indoors. Keep in mind, they usually cool off by flying, and tamed or domesticated birds don't have that luxury. While the finches can easily cool themselves with rapid wing flutters because of their size, it's more difficult for budgies to do so. I would provide them as much shade as physically possible, maybe using a lightweight breathable cotton fabric just over the top of the cage (not over the sides) to keep the sun off for a bit?

[Plumley]

thanks for the reply, i have no cage for them to come indoors.

Would you consider another cage? It seems like you might like to have one on hand in case of some sort of weather catastrophe or trips to the vet or similar.

[sharon]

i would like to thank everyone for their comments, i have now got a cage and they are indoors, lets hope the weather changes soon so they can go back out, thanks again Sharon.

[Blue Moon]

Yes, even in the US the heat is oddly high. A few days ago its was in the mid hundreds! I am praying that the weather will be back to comfortable soon, for us and budgies!

[Plumley]

It's been unusually hot where I am, too. It's been a long string of hot days that don't cool down at night. I have individual rooms air conditioned and keep the bird cage in a room that adjoins one of these. It's a balancing act, cooler temp, no draft.

[bluey]

thats wierd, its cold now where i am

[bluey]

maybe thats because i live in canada

[bluey]

i use heaters for my budgies because it is soo cold here. i keep them indoors, of course.

[Scott]

Those posts were from July Bluey, it was hot then, -3.5 here today so it's a far cry from the hot weather, oh well :rolleyes: I guess we are never happy :)

[Diane]

Bluey - look at the post dates :)

[graham]

Its a good -5c here this morning birds sat out all night even the chicks.
graham

[finny]

you could put him on your finger and see how warm his legs are to see if it is the heat