Betrisher
Well-known member
- Jun 3, 2013
- 4,253
- 177
- Parrots
- Dominic: Galah(RIP: 1981-2018); The Lovies: Four Blue Masked Lovebirds; Barney and Madge (The Beaks): Alexandrines; Miss Rosetta Stone: Little Corella
To all my friends in Australia: please consider putting out a large container of water for the native birds to drink in this awful heat wave. There are so few places where they can find water and it would be great if your back yard were one of them!
If you want to go the whole hog, put a margarine container of water in the freezer overnight and add the resulting ice-brick to your birdbath in the morning. (If you freeze more than one, you can renew it through the day).
I'm using an aluminium roast dish (cheap from Coles), but you can use anything that'll hold about three or four inches of water. Put a brick or large stone in for the tiny birds to perch on and make sure you put it in a shady area where cats can't lurk.
For those of you with caged birds, you can also add a large ice-brick to your birds' water, especially at midday and half-way through the afternoon. I've been spritzing my Beaks with cold water and they *love* it. If you can wet the bird right through to the skin, it offers significant cooling and lessens the bird's need to pant for heat exchange.
When I kept mice, I always provided ice-bricks in the summer. I don't see why we shouldn't place a large one (ice-brick, not mouse) in a bird's cage to provide a source of cooling. Just make sure you wrap it in something to prevent the bird's skin sticking to it and provide for it melting (ie. the ice, not the bird - you don't want a mess of papier mâché mixed with poo on the cage floor).
The next couple of months are going to be awful for everyone, but at least we humans have fans and air-con. Don't forget the wildlife, eh?
Betrisher
If you want to go the whole hog, put a margarine container of water in the freezer overnight and add the resulting ice-brick to your birdbath in the morning. (If you freeze more than one, you can renew it through the day).
I'm using an aluminium roast dish (cheap from Coles), but you can use anything that'll hold about three or four inches of water. Put a brick or large stone in for the tiny birds to perch on and make sure you put it in a shady area where cats can't lurk.
For those of you with caged birds, you can also add a large ice-brick to your birds' water, especially at midday and half-way through the afternoon. I've been spritzing my Beaks with cold water and they *love* it. If you can wet the bird right through to the skin, it offers significant cooling and lessens the bird's need to pant for heat exchange.
When I kept mice, I always provided ice-bricks in the summer. I don't see why we shouldn't place a large one (ice-brick, not mouse) in a bird's cage to provide a source of cooling. Just make sure you wrap it in something to prevent the bird's skin sticking to it and provide for it melting (ie. the ice, not the bird - you don't want a mess of papier mâché mixed with poo on the cage floor).
The next couple of months are going to be awful for everyone, but at least we humans have fans and air-con. Don't forget the wildlife, eh?
Betrisher