hi all,

what do I do to my budgies cool in summer
they have extra water and bird bath that they don't use I have tried misting them just a bit but my female budgie gets sick every time I do. They are in spare room and not in any sunlight but still hot in there and I have fan going and not right on them is this enough
any ideas
thanks

How can you tell they are hot? are they spreading their wings out a lot to keep cool or are they panting? budgies like temps from 65-85 ferinheight. If you feel good in the house with a short sleeved shirt on chances are your budgies are feeling good too.

Sudden tempertures. Heat All about change.
Over heated room with poor ventilation. I lve with this every day.
Living in a VERY warm-heated apartment. And Scary because poor
ventilation can cause stroke, death. The fan(s) are good, but we
must keep them WHERE they are doing the BEST CIRCULATING air.

It's bad to go to one extreme to the other. a over-heated bird
needs to be cooled but not suddenly.We would put the over-heated bird
in an airy ( not drafty area) cool drinking water 2x a day+
Change water often( even if we don't see the birds drink)
Water will help to reduce the temperature. Misting the bird
is ok for some but can stress them too, so pay attention to
all the stressful things. Your Avian Vet will help tell you
more how to protect RE: heat and this is a serious problem.

Vigilance on our part everyday some of us don't have
alot of rooms to put the bird in. But we must try to learn
what rooms/areas are cooler & what times of the day& PM ect.

Like I can keep my bird in his room till 12:00- 2:pm then I
MUST move him to another room/area. It's the passage time of
the SUN moving and intensity of the Sun's rays. Summer ect.
We have to be really aware of our homes and there's more
options available then we know sometimes. MOSTLY we have to have
Circulating Air. Unventililated when muggy, humidity is terrible
and even on a cooler day.The weather & heat situation-always a issue.

We found using Fans in the room? doesn't do much and can blow
hot air and heat up the room during the day time hours.
We were able to put a fan in the hallway and blow air down
into our bird's room and stays cool till 2PM. Nice for us too
At night we do this too but with a front door opened to get
more air in and we are able to use another Fan in the BR
and not on the bird, but good circulating air. We have to
do many different ways. If it is 100's? and muggy? We have
to move our bird out of BR by 9:30 am and stay in LR all
day and we have AC on then. It's always musical chairs here.

Right now our AC broke down 100% and we 're waiting for a new one.
Everything is fine untill you must leave your place and close
up the doors. (The heat rises too quickly) these birds heat
up quickly too. WE MUST WATCH CLOSE. I had a bird suffer
from heat stroke. Usually THEY do not recover, unless you
catch in time and not so good afterwards sometimes.

So find which room/area heats up the most? How long it lasts.
Sometimes we have to cook early and prepare dinner early?
Not to 'heat up the house in late evening. we also use a
fan to blow air into kitchen too (so not stale & stuffy)
no lingering smells/fumes <--birds will die from

We've learned to change certain routines around here for our
bird's sake. We finally found ways that work. Of course we
had to give up alot of Human comforts & ways
Like cooking times and things like showers? <--we blow OUT
the steam in the bathroom quickly so it doesn't stay all
night and go to our bird's room. And we don't boil water.

The birds will hold their wings away or roll their tongue-
mouth open LQQKS scary but this is how they cool off.
They 'll not able to sweat. But PANTING or gasping IS BAD!
My bird will GASP OMG if there's something wrong RE: air
He does Not do it NO more as we KNOW now HOW to keep the
Ventilation 'just right' My OTHER birds did NOT do this!

These little birds 'Over- heat so quickly. I check my bird
often. also I try not to hold or handle my bird when it is
really hot during the day? But I sit with him and keep each
other company and for some reason ( they like us to watch them)
just be with them? So also after it cools a little PM?
I try extra juicy vegetables, fruits (if they'll eat them?)
and water on the greens good I'm lucky my bird will take
a bath during day/afternoon when it is hot. But I wouldn't
spray my bird if it's stressed & not wanting a bath.

So I think find the best area/air/ventilation
you can. maybe buy some little fans and use in different areas
of your place. Even if you were to have a smaller place?
There's always a way. It took us a year or more to figure things.

All my windows FACE WEST all day! But I found that if I slipped a small
cardboard covering in my kitchen window on hot days? 6-7 degrees LESS
HEAT. REALLY helped with the AC working better-cooler.
Of course at first I thought SOOOO TACKY OMG!! But really
helps. and I take it down when I want. ( small window )
So there are ways. we have to try really hard for our birds.

Hope you find what works for you. and our birds can get sick so quickly.
We just can not wait and delay things and Haphazard treatment.
Also the heat will affect the bird's molting and they shed
feathers sometimes all year off & on. (not like a big molt)
But they don't feel so good when they're molting either.
My bird is molting now and I have no AC this next week.
'crossing our feathers' SOON and no 100's YET
REALLY hope you find a way to cool everyone down comfortable enough.

thanks for the reply
keeping the shades drawn durning the day really helps to keep room cooler as soon as sun goes down putting fan in window to bring in some cool air. I have a/c in lower living areas but as soon as I try to bring my Sky in a/c she is staying in corner puffed up quiet.
She was my first and never knew the difference until I bought poppy from breeder he is much easier to adapt to change and healthier.
This is a great site to ask questions and get good advice on how to help our little friends
Thanks again

Wow aaa, you so very vigilant. Little Chickie is one lucky keet. It can be overwhelming at times, can't it? All the moving around and worrying about certain places and times. What a great owner you are.

SKY and POPPY Glad that you have some AC to help out.
Sometimes at PM we have to cover 1/2 the cage because the AC
gets too cold. Other times we don't if it's Muggy and the
AC works differently then and we need all the 'cool we can get'
maybe a little 1/2 cover for Sky & her corner. You're on the
right track sounds like you're doing the best you can.

OH JEANNEM I needed that! Thank You. I try so very hard.
I think temperature is a big issue sometimes. And you must have
your weather issues too? It seems like some of the birds adapt
better than others? Seems like my first birds were more simple
to care for too. "Chicki"'s a little more 'high maintenance'
He's a little spoiled 'corker'and more... I love him too much!
By the way, he says hi to Chippy Glad SKY & POPPY
have some AC too. every little bit helps. 'And Happy Baths'

We are in mid Missouri, aaa, so the weather is not as hot as long as southern CA. But it can get blistering and that muggy heavy humidity you talk about. I actually broke out a jigsaw puzzle today because I had no inclination to go outside. I brought Chippy's cage into the playroom with me to 'help'. *S* I do have AC and I need it at a normal temp, I just do. But I do make sure his cage is not in direct sunlight or draft. I have that figured out so I have certain places I know he's fine with. I do offer a bowl of water if I think he's on the warm side, but he seems fine, so if it's not broken, I don't fix it.

Funny Sky, what does Sky do to make you think he's uncomfortable?

sorry for taking so long to get back to reply computer was down for a bit
Sky is one who has good days and others just in corner not looking well and just quiet.
She is also not getting along with Poppy any longer no matter what dish (3 food dishes 2 water) poppy eats out of she jumps to push him or her out of the way so now they are in two different cages not far from each other and she seems to want to be with poppy but I am afriad she will hurt poppy while I am working so now back to 2 cages.
A quick question how much scratching is normal for budgies she seems to scratch much more than poppy.
find more of her little feather in cage and she won't use a bath tub forget misting she was really in corner after the first time.
I will send pictures if I can figure out how too
maybe we can figure out if poppy is boy or girl with all of your help

thanks for replys