Chins and Birds

[Siylvat]

I have a white-capped pionus that is housed upstairs in our dining room. I feel like she doesn't get enough attention there. I thought about moving her into the chin room, but I have hesitations.

1. The chins are in the basement. There are two small windows that let in light, but never a ton of direct sunlight. It is kept at a constant temp for the chins of about 70 degrees. Is this too cold for my bird?

2.Will the bird bother the chins/vice versa? Are there any sicknesses they could pass to each other?

I feel like she would get so much more attention down here. (my fiance and I live in the basement of my family house. We have a few rooms down here, it is like a mini apartment while we are looking for our own place) So we really don't go upstairs much. And my mom has a dog that I'm pretty sure would eat the bird if she got out, so her outside cage time is limited. If she were down here, I could let her out every night.

 

[ticklechin]

It may have been just my chins, but my first two chins were afraid of bird shaped things-One year I dressed their cage up at work for x-mas and on the top corner I placed a bird with rear feathers, they cried for two days till my dumb self fiqured out it was the "bird". They both were sketchy so it may be a isolated case.

 

[tunes]

My chins in the house are completely immune to Sparky, and he screams like a banshee, and the cockatiel and the lovebird aren't exactly quiet either. I had a bank of 12 runs across from Sparky as it was the only place I could quarantine at the time, and he would talk to them or ignore them, or just scream for whatever reason, according to his schedule. The chins slept through it. They never pay any attention to the beast. Not saying that's how all chins would be, obviously, just my experience. Several times he flew across, or fell/flapped across, and landed on the top. He would lean over saying hello over and over into the cages. The chins completely ignored him and just slept. (Like men, apparently, they have selective hearing.)

As far as diseases? Birds aren't exactly the cleanest animal. They poop everywhere, their feathers fly, their under feathers and little white puffs fly all over, food flies (here anyway), etc. So I'm going to say sure, there is always the possibility that something "could" be communicable. I don't know what, but it's never been an issue here. I vacuum several times a day, pick up any stray bird parts, keep the birds sprayed to keep the flying fuzzies to a bare minimum and we've done alright.

Temperature wise it should be fine, unless you have read that your bird needs a lot higher temps. Mine seem to do fine in the overall temp of the house here and it's really chilly. I keep them out of the direct line of fire from my mutant a/c, and the little birds are in my office which houses the beardie, so his tank puts off some heat. Sparky is around a wall where he is blocked and he does fine too.

 

[aznmexaggie]

I have a rescue here named Grumpy who his previous owner claimed started fur-chewing when they moved in with the parents (who also consequently owned an African Gray and two dogs). When I picked up the chin and his cage, there was bird poop on the top bars and shelves of the cage. Umm, no wonder the poor chin was scared to death and started chewing. They let the bird perch on his cage and he probably thought he was always going to be eaten by a predator!

We have a rose breasted cockatoo and she has two cages in the house but neither are near the chins. I wouldn't want them to be spooked by her flapping her wings, screaming, or throwing her hissy fits around them. Plus, if they were in the same room, she'd probably fling her bird pellets in their cage, her bird dander would get everywhere (no chinnies, don't take baths in that dust), and I think it would probably be too cold in there for her. Most parrots do better in temperatures which are comfortable for us. My chin room is COLD... but refreshing on a hot day.

 

[AZChins]

Just to gossip here.. LOL I don't know if this is true at all, so please don't take it as gospel. Several years ago a breeder I knew told me about how a bunch of her chins, which she had sold, came down with bacteria that is usually found on/in birds. Apparently one of her customers let the chins play in an area shared with several (or at least more than one) bird(s) and a few weeks later the chins were ill with some type of bacterial infection. I always tell people to keep the chins away from the bird droppings because of the chance of the chins coming into contact with bacteria that can make them sick. It probably was more of an isolated incident if the bird(s) did make the chins sick, but it's always better to be safe rather than sorry when it comes to letting other species near the chins.

And, the noise...I agree, that could probably make the chins a little nutty. They don't like birds...so, Dawn, your chins were not oddballs. When I take chins out to the car in their carriers and a bird flies over they are obviously distressed by it. Chins inherently know that there are birds that can do them harm, I believe. I've seen the hawks out here grab rabbits, so I'm sure that a chin in the wild has to watch for birds of prey just the same. Poor chins...

 

[Jenn]

I have 4 keets in the same room as my chin and my chin isn't bothered by them at all. I keep the room cooler for my chin, and it hasn't seemed to be a problem at all for my birds.

 

[Siylvat]

I'm not too concerned about the noise aspect. She is a Pionus, and they are not exactly known for their screaming. She is actually fairly quiet, and only screams once in a great while, and even then not very loudly.

If we moved her, she would be on the opposite side of the room from the chins. It is not a huge room, but big enough that I'm not worried about seed getting in the chin cages.

I still haven't decided. Thanks for the input!

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

Raptor is very small, but he kinda freaks them out..however my hamster also freaked them out haha. Raptor lands on their cages occasionally but they ignore him even if he crawls inside. His wing flapping doesn't seem to bother them, but then again he's smaller than a parakeet.
I would suggest just getting a small ceramic light bulb and lamp from home depot or the like, for your bird's cage. Just point it towards the bird cage and maybe the wall so that the heat goes into the basement wall, not the room where it will raise the temp. My brother had one for the top of his iguana cage, the kind that's just the huge socket with a small black metal 'shade', and a clamp.

I was LMAO at your post, Peggy. Especially::

...he would talk to them or ignore them, or just scream for whatever reason, according to his schedule....Like men, apparently, they have selective hearing...

So true of birds! :rofl:

 

[Siylvat]

I would suggest just getting a small ceramic light bulb and lamp

A ceramic one? what are those like?

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

^Ceramic Bulb

^Infra Red Heat

^The clamp and bulb holder I was trying to describe

 

[Siylvat]

Thanks

 

[Leowyldemi]

i was told that as long it doesn't go below 60 degrees it was alright for my birds(i have two budgies)

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

i was told that as long it doesn't go below 60 degrees it was alright for my birds(i have two budgies)

Oh I'm sure it is, I just know that my lil guy likes to be warm. I would imagine larger birds (like Silvyat's pionus) might prefer "higher" temps...? But that's just a random thought.