Cage heating

[Ish]

Hi everyone, I hope this is the right place to put this. I have two budgies and I live in a northern state that gets very cold in the winter. In the past I've been keeping my furnace turned up 24/7 in order for the birds to be warm, but this is getting very expensive.

I need to be able to drop the temperature way down at night but my birds need extra heat or the one will get really sick. They already have a heated pirch in their cage that they do sleep on but they still need more heat. I tried to buy a lizard heat rock, but it wasn't actually rock (or ceramic) it was made of some sort of epoxy and it smelled bad before I even plugged it in so I was afraid it might injure my birds. Now I'm wondering what I can do to give them extra heat?

I was looking at something like this:

Buy Avitech Avitemp Ceramic Heat Emitter 60 W - Bird Miscellaneous Online at Arcata Pet Supplies

Is that safe to use with birds? I know it says birds on the box but that doesn't necessarily mean it's ok.

Any other advice on what might work to give them extra heat at night? I also usually cover their cage with a black sheet.

[sweetnlow]

What about using a small space heater just in their room. It would cut heating costs yet their room would be warmer. Just make sure it does not contain teflon of any kind. Fleece cozy huts are great as well. I would be careful with the heated perch. Check it daily for any signs of wear or overheating. I will let someone more experienced give an opinion on the ceramic heater you mentioned, but I don't see why it would not be safe. Just make sure there is a cooler area in the cage they can go to. Birds can get overheated just as easily as they can get cold. They are able to tolerate cool temperatures in the 60's F so you may not need a lot of additional heat.

[SonnyPa]

You may want to look into the Avi-Temp Infrared Heat Panels

[Lisa B]

Originally Posted by SonnyPa

You may want to look into the Avi-Temp Infrared Heat Panels

yes, several of my clients have this and love it.