Can I leave my Green Cheek outside?

[chloe.millar]

Okay question! I am a full-time student and often leave the house for 4-6 hours at a time. My green cheek conure has a full indoor enclosure and is never caged when I’m home. However, I hate to leave her inside when I’m away. So I have a cockatiel sized cage that I place right outside the front door while I’m away. I give her the full food and water selection, and cover half the cage with a towel for shade options. I’ve done this for months without issue. However, lately my neighbor has been coming over and moving her fully into the shade. I let my neighbor know that she’s a tropical bird and she will do okay in the sun. (Northern CA, temp range: 60-75 ish degrees.) After her concern, I decided to do some research and found A LOT of different opinions of the safety of housing parrots outdoors. (There is usually at least /one/ person home while I’m away, but they aren’t directly supervising her)

So the question, haha, : is it okay to leave her outside, or should I stop doing it? This is specifically asking about potential dangers of sun exposure. Will the time in the sunlight burn her or cause her to overheat? Wouldn’t that have already happened if so? I believe her cage itself is as safe as possible.

 

[foxgloveparrot]

Even though she’s safe and not at risk of being predators, she could still get diseases, and every time something goes by it will scare your bird. Or she could get stolen, you never know.
Don’t leave your bird outside.

 

[SailBoat]

Excellent Advice Above!!

Never leave your Companion Parrot outside unattended!!

 

[Laurasea]

Yes parrots can overheat when left in sun, even the towel is likely not enough with reflective heat from surfaces. We have had posters in the past share theirs passing this way.

A cage isn't safe from predators....snakes can squeeze in.....a cat can attack and parrot so frantic that the cat is able to latch on.

I was with my birds in my fenced in back yard. I went inside to plug in my phone, that's it! When I came back out a huge cat had jumped on top of one of my cages ( same style as yours) and was trying to get my parrots!!! It was a stray, id have never seen it, nor any cat roaming my subdivision.

Also squirrels and rats will climb the cage try and reach in .....

Its just not safe or worth it.

But taking your cage outside when you supervisor is fantastic!!!! I do this! Man it makes their feathers radiant! But I never put in full sun, I have them in light shade. They still get the benefits , but full sun is just to much. So great fir their minds, fir their vision. They see in other spectrum and outside and being able to look into the distance do good fir them.

So please keep that up, but while you are on watch

 

[PyroParrot]

The things previously posted also, but I would be terrified of somebody stealing my bird. People are not so nice sometimes! They can nab it, sell it and make some easy money. Many people steal animals and sell them for $. Friend of mine had his dog run off and tho he was out the door right after him, he couldn’t find it but did see some ‘tweaker’ guys driving away. My friend got on Craigslist next day and sure enough, there was a dog for sale that looked exactly like his!!! He called them, said he was getting a dog for his girlfriend and she just had to have that little guy, said he would even pay a little extra if he could get it that day. So he set up a meeting, got 2 of his biggest buddies and got his dog back. But WTH is WRONG with people!!!!! I take every effort to keep my dog safe, and I would be terrified to leave my parrot anywhere some random person could have unsupervised access. Just MHO

 

[wrench13]

UNattended parrots left outside is a recipe for bad things to happen, please heed the advice being offered; it is made with the combined knowledge/experienced of decades of first hand knowledge.

 

[Flboy]

Remember, being in the tropics means almost always being out of the sun!

 

[chloe.millar]

Thank you for all your replies! You all brought up some fantastic points that I wouldn’t have even thought of. Esp the idea of a snake or rat sneaking in.

As far as her getting stolen I’m not concerned. I am very privileged to live with a family who lives on a large private priory behind a gate.

However, the other reasons are more than enough for me to think twice about leaving her outside alone.

Thank you!