phangtonpower

Negative on either of those. The only option they have here to keep birds warm are heat bulb things. You can see it in the second picture I posted on Japanese setups. I use one for his sleep cage, but it's way to small for his main cage. I actually cover the front maybe a quarter way, otherwise the heat escapes. We actually sit on the ground so we can still interact with him.

Hmmm sorry about that, it get's about 40 degrees. Maybe colder. I know it gets cold enough to see your breath. That is why Japanese have fancy toilets with heated seats.

I have a red lored amazon back home in California with my family there, so a little spoiled with the options back home, and you can't go back from what you learned. I think CAGs are big here because they're small pets that "don't need much space" and aren't loud as other parrots. I use a rack similar to this for the heater, but it has three shelves that are adjustable. The blanket never touches the heater, nor does the heater get hot enough to burn anything. It's gets hot enough where it's uncomfortable to touch. I want to keep the blankets on the sides for better ventilation as well being able to cover areas that may cause small drafts.

If using PVC is out of the question, what would you guys suggest be the best way to heat her cage and only her cage. I usually just suffer and layer clothes and sit under my heated table all winter >< I swear our bird eats and lives better than me and my wife

No. I live in Japan and most houses are not insulated or have central heating. Most places still use kerosene heaters. It's sad because pet stores are selling CAGS without the proper equipment to house these guys. I order most things from the states.

Before anyone judges me on how I shouldn't be doing things, please take into consideration that I live in another country. I try and provide for our fid as best as I can with what I have to work with. This a typical Japanese setup which probably cost about $1000. I had to ship my cage from the states, and it still cost less than the size cage they use here.

Best picture I have of my setup. I don't have it setup yet as it's not cold enough. The picture was from last year. It does get to be 26 degrees here in the winter and Japanese houses aren't insulated and a made to be drafty. The Heater I'm using is similar to the one pictured and is on a rack so it's lifted from the ground closer to the cage. I'm Planning on using the hard(?) pvc sheets to cover the the back and top completely and the front about half way. I would still use blankets on the side because I don't know how I would enclose the heater to connect to the cage. Plus I don't really want the pvc to be that close to the heater. It also makes it easier to access food and water dishes if I use blankets on the side. The PVC I'm thinking of using is stiff, but thin enough were it's flexible. kind of like the plastic they would use for soda bottles but maybe a little thicker.

Anyone with any ideas? I don't want our bird's cage to be covered with blankets all winter long again. And Japanese houses aren't insulated.

Ok after researching more I learned that the vinyl sheets I was talking about is PVC, but what I'm talking about is a really thin sheet of PVC similar to acrylic. Maybe it can be used?

Last year, with the recommendation from you fine folks, I bought an Oil filled radiator style heater to keep my CAG warm in the winter months. Last year I covered almost his whole cage including the heater with blankets to keep the heat inside his cage. I had a some lighting under the blankets so he would have light. This year I was thinking of using PVC sheets to cover some of his cage so that more natural light would come in. Do you guys think it would be safe with the heater? Last year I asked if clear vinyl sheets would work, but some of you reminded me that vinyl sheets have a smell to them.

Actually she whistles it and always whistles the last note flat I've checked into importing our bird, but there is a ban for Japan for bringing birds into the States because of bird flu. I wish I could. It's really hard to find anything for her here. I usually order stuff from the States. There isn't even an avian vet. Probably have to go to Tokyo. Japan is an awesome place to travel and maybe live for max 3 years. Seems to be the limit for most gaijin. I go to Kanazawa often and once they build a costco out there, I'll probably go once a week! Beats driving into kyoto and a lot closer. Ishikawa is rural, but Fukui is a way worse. If I had a choice I'd probably want to live in Kanazawa over any of the bigger cities. Still haven't made it out to Noto, but I will one day

Yeah That's what I feel too. Except for the cage thing. Recently I have been taking the bird to it's main cage in the mornings, but the other day I had my wife do it. The bird nipped at her >< My wife just left and is now talking up a storm. She also loves to sing the theme to Totoro and we always do a thing were she sings a part and I sing a part. If you lived in Japan still, we would have been neighbors Kinda. I live in Fukui, south of Ishikawa. Been here for almost 7years. Taught English, but I'm running a cafe now serving California style Mexican food and burgers. Going back to teaching though as Japanese don't really like foreighn food that hasn't been changed to there pallet. I'm kind of over it though, but since I'm married, I'm stuck. Wife doesn't want to move and we couldn't bring our bird anyway

That's the thing she is never nervous around the bird. Except for a few isolated incidents, the bird has attacked her when she can't be seen, so I'm thinking the bites are more of "why don't you play" or "talk with me bites." I'm guessing that my wife just needs to spend more time with our bird, but the problem is she can't Thanks for everyone's help. I really appreciate it.

What you said makes no sense! If what I want isn't going to happen how are going to help me? You don't know how committed to my bird I am, just like how I don't know how committed you are. Seems like you spend more time on here than with your birds If I wasn't committed do you think I would be on here asking questions? Just like our birds every situation is different, so please stop being a "Negative Nancy" I'm only asking for help.

I just saw your post. Noon is about the only time my wife can spend with the bird. To tell you the truth, the bird is in the cage most of the time during that time. Today though before reading your post, my wife sat right next to her while she was in the cage. The whole time the bird looked relaxed and was watching my wife or playing with her toys like she normally does. Our bird didn't looked stressed or angry at all. I really do think She likes my wife more than me, but since I spend most time with her, I can handle her without fear.

Nobody else was in the room except for me. She was in the kitchen which is maybe 20 feet away from the cage. Maybe our bird was upset that she couldn't be seen? She does always have food. We have pellets for her that she can munch on anytime and also give her fruits and veggies in the evening. Sometimes some corn so we can have lunch together. Don't think we have anything nest like material in cage. Newspaper? Attacks happen during noon as that's the time my wife is home when she can spend time with the bird. Another attack happened when my wife was taking the harness off. That one I can understand as our bird doesn't really like it. The thing she hates most is to have the harness come off her head and that's when she bit. I thought she was used to it since she allows me to do it, but obviously not.

Thank you guys very much! I will figure a way out to lift the cage of the floor, but this incident isn't about it's sleep cage. That incident was just the worst one. My wife has been bit about 4 or 5 times recently where she bled each time without warning and each time was a different incident. Most of the time she flew and attacked my wife from her main cage. My family has an Amazon back home that was bonded with me. It used to attack my little brother all the time, but never made him bleed. And as mentioned when the bird and my wife are together, the bird looks lovingly into my wife's eyes and all attention seems to be on her. How do you guys deal with being bit randomly without warning? Also in regards about not needing AC. I understand that birds like warm humid weather. I take my bird in the shower with me everyday, but when it's 95 degrees out and humid and the bird's wings are down and shes breathing hard, I think I need the AC to bring it down a little bit.

Yeah she's definitely not giving up. I wont let her. So I'm guessing what everyone is saying is that it's just a phase and if my wife keeps at it, hopefully our bird will grow out of it?

The aftermath of the biting. Tried to clean as much of it as I could, but it stained. Anyone know how to remove blood stains from wood floors?

I have the sleep cage for a variety of reasons. First I live in Japan and it snows in the winters and houses are not insulated here. It's easier to keep the sleep cage warm and saves on electricity. Second we had our cage shipped from the states, so finding the appropriate cover for it is pretty difficult. Summers are also really hot and humid. Again there is no central AC/Heating and we need separate ACs for rooms, so to save on electricity we have the sleep cage in the same room as we sleep. It would be difficult to have to move the big cage into the same room. Third, wont getting rid of the sleep cage encourage cage dominance? Like I said, the birds biting has been very random and without warning. The sleeping cage incident was the first and worst time.

Yup sleep cage is on the floor. Well she said that she bit her after she already stepped up and was taking her out.

Thanks for the kind words. That is exactly what she did. She never reacts loudly when or bird has bit her, and today She closed the door, turned around then reacted. Not loudly of course. I did take the bird out a few minutes later after we cleaned all the blood. It's sleeping cage is a medium sized dog kennel. Don't think it's cage dominant over it since she's only in it when she goes to bed.

Well it's a little hard for her to spend as much time a I do with out bird. I work from home and she works 1-10 in the evening. But when she is home, she does offer treats when our bird is good and speaks to her a lot. More than half the stuff our bird says is stuff she learned from my wife. And trust me, she hasn't given up. It's not the first time that our bird has drew blood, but it is the first time where she was literally dripping blood from her hand!

She is usually in the room with me when our bird is out or when handling our bird, but usually they're alone when she takes out the bird in the morning to put her in her day cage. I try to get her to take the bird out when I'm not home, but I don't think she does.

My wife and I have CAG that normally tolerates the both of us, but recently has started biting my wife to were she draws blood. Today after getting our CAG out of it's sleeping cage, it bit my wife so hard that blood was dripping from her hand! This is something my wife has been doing for the last 4 years, so it's nothing new for our bird. When our bird does bite her, it's usually very randomly with out any warning. She doesn't want to give up on the bird, but she is starting to become hesitant to interact with our bird. I think the bird likes her as she will step up with her, allows my wife to pet her, will give my wife all the attention when we are both spending time with her, and she can even give kisses, but I may be wrong? I've noticed that when they are in the same room together, my bird is normally very quite, which is the opposite with me when we're together. Our bird will also watch her like a hawk. The thing is that our bird doesn't show any kind of aggregation when watching her. I have no idea what to tell my wife as anything I have told her hasn't really been working. She does very well when she gets bit as she wont say anything loudly. Any help would be appreciated.