Warm Light for Conure?

[Caitnah]

My Conure is 8 years old and we live in the NE. Winters get pretty cold as you know. My house temps (in Winter) are from 66-68*. My Conure has never appeared to be cold as he eats and plays just fine.
However, his cage is in a dark area of the living room and I wanted to give him some more light. I purchased a floor lamp with a shade. It has a 60 watt bulb which is adequate for lighting up his area.
Of course, it took him a few days to realize that this tall scary thing is not a monster and he adjusted just fine. But I noticed that, during the day, he has been purchasing as close to the lamp as possible. I believe he enjoys the heat that is coming off the bulb. It originally had an LED bulb but I changed it to an incandescent for more heat.
My question is that the lamp can only take a 60 watt max and I'd like to give him even more heat safely. I cannot add one of those Lamps (that are for birds) that come down from the top as he has a large playground on top of his cage.
They have those heat bulbs for terrariums and reptiles. Are those sufficient? Or do you guys have any other ideas?

 

[Caitnah]

Bumping thread. Surprised no replies?
I did read where the reptile lamps are not safe due to some factors but was curious if anyone else uses something?

 

[rheashard2]

Are you looking for heat, light or both? My CAG is in a communal room. TV, computer, crafting etc is there. I live in South Central Texas. Natural light means high outdoor temperatures with inside temperature causing excessive energy bills. Windows are "energy efficient". I keep covered with reflection type curtains. So communal room can be considered dark. I used to use artificial lights. Lighting is on a timer. I did research and started using bird light. No apparent problems. Excellent vet checks. There's excellent selection out there. I'm not a fan of heating and lighting combinations. I haven't found a type that works for me. There are now no light heating "lights, bulbs" for birds and reptiles. The important thing is monitoring actual temperature. Heat must be set so your bird can move away from area of affect.

 

[wrench13]

FOr warmth use a birdie heater, like this one, on Chewy. I use one its great.

K&H Pet Products Snuggle-Up Bird Warmer, Small/Medium​

 

[nkrbkr]

I use one of the K&H snuggle-up warmers as well, and my lovebird enjoys it in the frigid months. From personal experience, I’ll caution any users to be mindful about how you mount it on the cage, in relation to the cage bars. One of the first times we put it in Button’s cage years ago, we had inadvertently left a small gap between the edge of the heater and one of the cage bars. It created a pinch point, and my little guy got a toe trapped. Ultimately, he was fine, but lesson learned. We’re extra cautious, double checking for pinch points anytime we move anything around or put anything new in his cage.

 

[Caitnah]

Are you looking for heat, light or both? My CAG is in a communal room. TV, computer, crafting etc is there. I live in South Central Texas. Natural light means high outdoor temperatures with inside temperature causing excessive energy bills. Windows are "energy efficient". I keep covered with reflection type curtains. So communal room can be considered dark. I used to use artificial lights. Lighting is on a timer. I did research and started using bird light. No apparent problems. Excellent vet checks. There's excellent selection out there. I'm not a fan of heating and lighting combinations. I haven't found a type that works for me. There are now no light heating "lights, bulbs" for birds and reptiles. The important thing is monitoring actual temperature. Heat must be set so your bird can move away from area of affect.

Here’s a photo of him. As mentioned, he doesn’t sit there all day. He plays and eats just fine but when ready for a nap, he likes the heat.
Due to space limitations, I’m looking for light and heat. That area is pretty dark.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Is there any space directly under his cage? If so, you could put a radiant heater under his cage to warm his cage up.
The perchside radiant heaters designed for birds like wrench13 suggested seem to be the safest least costly way to add warmth.

The floor lamp looks nice there so I'd keep it for light but add a separate heat source. If you do add a heat source I would put the LED bulb back in the lamp. Incandesent bulbs burn very hot and could burn your bird is he got to close to it while exploring. With the lamp that close to his cage I'd be surprised if he didn't climb over to check it out. Plus, if the lamp came with an LED bulb I'd be concerned that the lamp wasn't really designed to withstand the heat from an incandescent bulb. I work at Lowes and we stock and sell very few incandescent bulbs- the standard now is all LED.

 

[Jcas]

It doesn’t seem like there are many reptile bulbs that produce both heat and light. Honestly, I would just stick with the 60 W incandescent. It does produce a little heat ( as your bird has figured out!) but not so much as to be dangerous. Using a snuggle up warmer like mentioned above if you need a little extra heat is probably safer than a hotter light bulb. I use 125 W heat lamp bulbs for my chickens but those require a special lamp; a house lamp like you have would melt with that much wattage. Your bird is super cute, by the way

 

[Caitnah]

Is there any space directly under his cage? If so, you could put a radiant heater under his cage to warm his cage up.
The perchside radiant heaters designed for birds like wrench13 suggested seem to be the safest least costly way to add warmth.

The floor lamp looks nice there so I'd keep it for light but add a separate heat source. If you do add a heat source I would put the LED bulb back in the lamp. Incandesent bulbs burn very hot and could burn your bird is he got to close to it while exploring. With the lamp that close to his cage I'd be surprised if he didn't climb over to check it out. Plus, if the lamp came with an LED bulb I'd be concerned that the lamp wasn't really designed to withstand the heat from an incandescent bulb. I work at Lowes and we stock and sell very few incandescent bulbs- the standard now is all LED.

Actually the lamp DID come with an LED bulb. I tested the heat from both bulbs with an infrared gun and the incandescent only gives about 5* more than the LED. 60* max bulb is stated.

 

[Caitnah]

It doesn’t seem like there are many reptile bulbs that produce both heat and light. Honestly, I would just stick with the 60 W incandescent. It does produce a little heat ( as your bird has figured out!) but not so much as to be dangerous. Using a snuggle up warmer like mentioned above if you need a little extra heat is probably safer than a hotter light bulb. I use 125 W heat lamp bulbs for my chickens but those require a special lamp; a house lamp like you have would melt with that much wattage. Your bird is super cute, by the way

Thanks, I may try that warmer that was suggested.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

If the lamp is left on for an hour with the incandescent bulb in it does the bulb get hot to touch?

 

[Caitnah]

If the lamp is left on for an hour with the incandescent bulb in it does the bulb get hot to touch?

Yes, but the area just around the bulb only gets to 75*. The area he sits is around 72*. It’s been over 2 weeks now and he shows no signs of any adverse affect.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I would just worry that he would try to "beak" the hot bulb and burn himself.

 

[Jcas]

I would just worry that he would try to "beak" the hot bulb and burn himself.

I use heat lamps for My chickens and they have never tried that with a heat bulb; and they’re pretty dumb and like to peck things lol! A conure is much smarter, I’m sure

 

[Caitnah]

I would just worry that he would try to "beak" the hot bulb and burn himself.

Thanks. But he can’t reach it with the cage bars. Also the bulb is way up in the shade.