What kind of weather/temp?

[Ronda477]

Ok I'm sure ya'll have a field day with me on this one, but I'm new and I'm still learning! I understand now from talking to someone else on the forum that wanting to show off my bird outside of my house is a no no for awhile until she is well trained. Understand that. Now my question is I have read you can't have your bird in a draft, understand that as well, but we don't live in a new house and although I can keep her away from the door and windows in the winter will this be good enough? We keep our house 65 at night and 71 or so when we are home. As for the summer time we try to keep it cool but we live in a hot box where the sun beats down on the house cause we live at the top of a mountain and out in a field. So am I basically in bad shape here? What temps can I keep the house and how hot can it get? I'm not saying it gets in the 90's in here, we plan on getting C/A next year and this probably won't be a problem anyway, but I just wanted to know what the house temps should be for all year round? What should I avoid? Like I said I know you'll probably laugh at me but I want to know your opinion. We don't live in TX or somewhere it is nice all year basically. We live in WV and need to know how we should keep the house. Thank you!! Oh here's a new pic of her, the breeder sends me one every Monday!

[judygram]

I wouldn't worry too much about what temperatures to keep your house, they adapt pretty well, in fact in their native habitat, the congo, it gets very warm to hot. Whatever is comfortable for you will suit your grey.

 

Thanks for sharing the newest picture of your new grey with us, how soon before she gets to come home? I know you can hardly wait.

 

Are you the one that said you shop in Mineral Wells, WV? I was just up there over the weekend visiting my son and his family and my daughter and I will be going back on Saturday and spend the night with my son again this weekend. I love those mountains of WV and I live in the mountains in VA.

[Makena]

Where I live it gets down to about 70 at night and up to 95 during the day. Our upstairs where we sometimes take Makena to play can easily get to 92. It never seems to phase him. Only once or twice have I seen him drop his wings and pant a little. And at that point I immediately took him downstairs. Judy is right, they live in Africa and are used to high heat. As long as they aren't in direct 90+ degree sunlight I am sure he will be fine. I would be more worried about the cold... but hopefully someone else can comment about that!

[Talon]

Hi Rhonda. I live in a drafty farmhouse built in 1831 with very little insulation. In the winter, it can get very cold . Talon sleeps upstairs in a sleep cage in my son's room. We keep a Peliton heater running in there and she sleeps in a happy hut, and prefers to be covered at night. We keep the room round 70-76 degrees through-out the year.

Your bird will adapt to your house temperatures. Just be careful with cool drafts. That is the most harmful to them. I keep Talon away from the doors in the winter when they open and close.

 

In the summer Talon does not like the heat. She will pant and drop her wings when it is hot. When she does that, I will mist her with cool water and she likes that.

[Makena]

Oh yeah... good call on the squirt bottle Talon! We do the same thing!

[Tari]

As long as your bird is in good health they well adjust to most temps as long as it is slow changes.

I live in an older house and it is very "drafty" but everyone is fine. I do have to cover my amazon in the winter time. With his liver issues he catches birdie colds very easy. But keeping plastic on his cage keeps him well and happy.

[Ronda477]

Hey Judy yes we can't wait! We will have her in probably mid Oct or a little sooner. And yes I am the one from Mineral Wells area.

 

And I'm soo glad that everyone didn't tear me down for asking that question. I was a little worried. I know they can't be near a draft just was worried cause our house doesn't stay a constant temp. Our Quaker had done fine but than again they are a much hardier bird. So just want to make sure she will be fine in her new home compared to her home she has now in TX.

[judygram]

You can ask us anything, we are not going to cut you down for asking a silly question, and it is not silly, you have a genuine concern. You cannot get an answer if you don't ask the question.

 

I think you will find we are an easy going group of people who care about each other and want to help out anyone who has a concern or question about their grey. Thats why we refer to our group as a family, and your problems are our problems and we work together to solve them.

[BMustee]

There is not such thing as a stupid question! I would much rather answer a question that seems to be a no brainer (not that yours is) than read a very sad story that could have had a different ending if someone would have just asked a simple question.

 

I live in Southwest Florida and it get really hot here. The heat index gets well over 100 degrees and I don't have a problem taking him outside in that. I normally have a glass of ice tea with me and he will go to the cup and get a cold drink when he starts getting hot. As for the cold I would get him a Happy Hut like Talon said and cover the cage at night with a warm blanket...thats what I would do with my sun conure in the winter when it would get cold and drafty in the house. This will be my Greys first winter and I plan to do the same thing with him.

[judygram]

Well if you live in south Florida, you don't have very cold winters, I bet it doesn't even get down to freezing temps there. Now here in Virginia, it can get below -15 degrees at night, but we stay toasty warm in the house, especially if hubby uses the fireplace, he can run you out with it.B)

[Guest briansmum]

i live in the UK and it gets pretty cold here on a night (don't know farenheight), i'm sure as long as the transition is gradual your bird will adjust it's body temprature to suit. i mean if you think about it, in the wild even though it is warm most of the time they do have a cool rainy season. these animals are equppied with a far more complex internal thermostat than us. you can always cover the cage on a night when it is cool to be on the safe side, but as long as it isn't extremes (boiling to freezing) im sure she will be fine

[loviechick]

From the research I've done birds acclimate to weather rather well. Not to the extent that humans do, as they have a hollow bone structure, and can maintain temperature but not warm up as fast as we can they should be kept away from drafts and also they shouldn't have a bath before bedtime unless they will be fully dry.

[BMustee]

It gets into the 20's and 30's in the middle of winter in my area of FL...but that is COLD when the rest of the year is 95+ with 100% humidity. That may not be Yukon cold but it chills to the bone if you were born and raised here. Why do you think people only come here in the winter...it's like the pits of hell here this time of year.

 

{Feel-bad-00020063}

[Ronda477]

Lol the pits of hell, sorry just made me laugh. I am very glad to hear that I won't be putting my new baby in any harm, alot of you seem to have the same drafty house I do. I cover my windows in the winter with plastic our living room does have 4 windows 2 on each side of the house so really can't get away from the windows but she will be in a corner of the living room right next to my chair actually. So hopefully she will be comfy. But I feel alot better now thank you all!

[Tari]

If you think she is getting to cold covering her with plastic well work wonders to keep out draft in the winter time. I do this for my amazon cause he is prone to getting birdie colds.

[judygram]

I've been to Florida in the summertime and it is the pits of hell you describe, BMustee, not for me and I won't go back in the summertime either. We want to go back to Disney World but it will be close to Christmas when we do.

[BMustee]

That bites. Are all the parks closed or just Disney? (that shows how much I get around in this state:laugh: )

 

I've been to Virginia once during the summer and it was pretty nice weather. It's funny, the closest I have seen to snow was when I was a kid and we had a none defrosting freezer so the ice would form on the sides...I would nail my brother and sister with snowballs made out of freezer shavings :evil: .