Cage safety and temperature

[dodsonjames]

im going to use this members picture as an example, and i doubt they will mind since they haven't been on the forums in over two years.

dancingwithbears's Images - Parrot Forum's Gallery

The picture with the macaws in the cage... in the picture has alot of the paint chipped away, and it appears to be rust all over. is this safe for birds? My cage is doing this in some areas, but not nearly as bad as that cage. should i be worried or planning to repaint/buy a new cage?

Also is there a temperature range that parrots (blue fronted amazon in my case) should be kept at. I live in michigan, and will sometimes use little heat during the winter to save money. if i set it at 66 degrees F is that too low for my bird?

thanks for any help!

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I don't know much about how dangerous a rusty cage may be, the iron in rust is not as dangerous as other metals, but too much ingested could be a problem.

Painting could be a problem however. Most paints would flake off and could be quite dangerous themselves.

As far as temperature MOST temperatures that we'd be comfortable in will be safe for parrots. But when you keep your home on the cool end you can throw on a sweater and more blankets, parrots don't have that option. Rather than keeping the whole house warmer though there are some safe space heaters that can keep the birds room warmer - that's what I do for Auggie.