Bleak weather, biting wind, and cold is never a fun fact for your Macaw to deal with. That’s the point the queries start on how to keep my macaw warm in such frosty cold.
Macaws are prone to adapt well in tropical, warm climates. When your bird is in the withstand temperature, it remains healthier and well-mannered. But the situation turns traumatic for your macaw when the weather is too harsh, an obvious call for extra care and maintenance of your lovely little friend then.
Being thoughtful about how to accomplish the best care of your macaw in the winter season? No more worries as long as we are here bringing an extensive guide, nicely explaining all helpful tips and tricks to ensure the superior well-being of your macaw.
How To Keep My Macaw Warm Safely For The Winter [10-Easy Tips To Follow!]
Here we are providing some helpful tips to go with that will prove efficient enough in keeping your macaw warm and safe. Go on reading:
1. Ensure A Safe And Comfortable Location
Relocating your macaw’s cage to a safe & comfortable location is extremely important. Because higher chances are, you have placed the cage near doors or windows, where the circulation of cold, windy air is quite obvious. If really that is so, your pet will catch a cold through the chilly drafts.
Unless you insulate the windows and doors, keeping your macaw away from drafty areas is far better. So, the question would be, what is the perfect place? Look through your home interior and find the warmest place, with less chance of flying cold drafts. Move your pet there!
2. Use Cage Covers At Night
It is the 2nd most effective tip to maintain the minimum temperature of your macaw. The perfect insulation of the cage is enough to trap the heat inside the bird’s cage. It’s ok you are placing your pet under the sun in the daytime. But you must have to put a quality cage cover to keep the warm air in, and chill draft put.
Here a thick blanket might also work well. While insulating the cage, do a special concentrate on the ventilation as well.
3. Consider To Warm Your Home With A Heater
You can utilize a heater in your room when it is too cold outside. The process not only provides a comfortable environment for you but also for your pet as well. Moreover, it is the quickest way to heat your macaw and protect it from winter’s coldest temperature as well.
But the thing is, it will be better to use a portable heater like a space heater for this fact instead of other kinds because space heaters will prove not only energy efficient but also far safer for your pet as well. The better case will be if you can manage centralized heating systems for your home.
4. Install A Heated Perch
No matter if you are worried about heating your lovely macaw through a heater, a thermo-perch is here to give the best shot for you. A thermo-perch is the safest heating equipment for exotic birds. It features internal thermostats which maintain the ideal temperature inside the cage and help provide a comfortable environment.
The fact same goes for your macaw as well. You can install a Thermo perch in your macaw’s cage to ensure your pet’s next level of comfort during a windy night. As it is made of a low-voltage heat source and is thermostatically controlled, thus there is nothing to worry about regarding your bird’s safety.
5. Encourage Physical Activities Through Toys
If you can increase the physical activity of your macaw somehow, it will be efficient enough to heat your pet for the most part. You can give your pet bird toys to play with.
When your pet starts playing, the process will keep them moving constantly. It will boost metabolism and increase the body temperature of your macaw.
6. Add A Cage Tent
A cage tent can be the best alternative to cage covers. It will be a little shelter for your macaw where there are living. Your macaw will easily hop into this small home and snuggle into it when windy outside.
Like a cage cover, it will help to insulate your pet’s residing from cold and keep the inside cozy and warm.
7. Feed Extra At Nighttime
Many experts suggest feeding your extra pet food, like corn, to your pet at night, which helps keep their body warm. Basically, a pet’s metabolism is all to provide warmth. Thus it is necessary to make them fuller by feeding them, especially when it is chill and drafty outside.
This will increase your macaw’s body heat. But ensure proper digestion of your pet by giving fruits and vegetables with their meals.
8. Provide Your Macaw Clothing
Ensure the best warmth to your pet bird. You can wear bird’s clothing. You will find a wide range of parrot clothing available in the market. That will not only provide stylistic flair to your pet but also protect them from harsh weather as well.
But make sure it is not too tight, as it can be more harmful to your macaw than beneficial. Rather, you can determine fitness by slipping a finger between your macaw’s clothes and its body.
9. Let Your Macaws Together
If you have more than one macaw, you can apply a good trick to ensure proper warmth in winter. Place them together in the same pen or cage. Through this process, they will root together and be warmth their bodies during the winter.
But be conscious about whether they are being used to each other. If all that is okay, put them together and cover the cage on the winter nights.
10. Insulate The Room
At times, only covering the cage will not work if there flies a lot of drafty air in your room. You still need some extra layer of warmth environment in your room. In this case, you can try temporary insulation in your room so that it stays warm.
To do so, first seal off the unused windows, where there are higher chances of cold air passing through. Besides, don’t avoid the opened doorways and seal them off as well using a shrink-wrap insulation kit. Once you have the insulation in your room, it will effectively work in keeping cold and warm air out.
Things To Consider While Keeping Your Macaw Warm [Precautions Must Know!]
Well! You have managed your macaw and its cage to keep it warm in the winter season. But there still leave some questions about the safety to ensure. You must know a few major cautions while insulating your macaw to provide warmth.
Wondering what are those? Let’s have a look at the below point:
- Never use stand-alone electric or gas room heaters to heat up your room. There are higher chances of producing fumes that are toxic to your macaw.
- If you are using space heaters, monitor whether it is containing Teflon or Teflon-coated parts. These parts produce fumes that are quite harmful to your macaw. Also, place the space heater at least 3 feet directions from your cage
- Also, avoid using electric heaters containing non-stick coating as it may also cause illness to your macaw.
- Ensure all the electric cords and opened plugs are kept far away from your macaw. Don’t place the cage in such a place as your macaw may start chewing the cord, leading to serious injuries.
- If you are covering your cage with tents or covers, ensure it is not darkening too much inside. This situation can cause your pet birds to get stressed. It’s better to use battery-powered light near the cage.
- Plus, keep your lovely macaw far from the uncovered bulb, as it may be hot.
- The proper humidity level is also the most important factor to keep your bird healthy, especially when it is winter season and dryness is all there. Check the right humidity level for your macaw and ensure the room is in that range. It will be better to place a humidifier to reduce the problems caused by dry indoor air.
- When it is bath time for your macaw, it is better to use lukewarm water, and ensure the body’s water has dried off quickly to avoid getting cold.
- In the winter, be conscious about the drinking water provided to your pet bird. It may get very cold. So, as a solution, change the water regularly. Also, your bird will enjoy it if you give them lukewarm water for drinking in the draft season.
What Temperature Is Too Cold For A Macaw?
From the expert’s suggestion, a bird can easily withstand a temperature between 18 to 22 degrees Celsius. Rather, it refers to the ideal temperature range for large parrots like macaws. But the problem starts when the temperature goes down to 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit as it is too cool for parrots.
Under this temperature, they start getting fluffing up to trap the air in their bodies. Also, in case of more bad situations, it catches a serious cold. At times, it might stop eating due to illness.
When this matter happens, you need to take immediate action and consult a professional vet. Also to prevent such problems for your pet birds, you have to ensure proper warmth to it following the suggestions mentioned above.
Can Macaw Freeze To Death?
When the fact about macaws or similar to other parrots, they are biologically adapted to defense mechanisms against cold. Birds acquire a good amount of metabolic rates. When it is chilly winter outside, they start burning more calories to warm up their bodies.
But the problem creates when the temperature goes down too low, which is quite intolerable for your macaw. In such a situation, it can freeze to death as the body of the bird is not used to it. Macaws are in the range of warmer-climate birds and are not prone to resist colder temperatures. So, you need to take special care of your pet bird in freezing weather.
To Sum Up!
Throughout our comprehensive article, we have provided each needed information that will let your macaw warm all winter long and keep it healthy and safe.
Still wondering about how to keep my macaw warm? I bet not! No matter how harsh the weather will be in the upcoming winter, you can ensure superior good health of your macaw when this guide is with you!
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Hi, I’m Regina Rios. Just another bird lover who loves to share knowledge from personal experience. I’ve grown up with pet birds since childhood as my mommy also loves birds. As I can’t pet many birds in open air in my house as my mom does; I created my first bird cage on my rooftop using wood, copper wire, and a metal shed in 2018 and start collecting pet birds. Now, I have so many pet birds such as Macaws, Parrot, Cockatiel, Parakeet, and others. Not only that, if I see natural birds are injured I keep them in my house until they get well. Now, my hobby becomes my income source as my home birds have babies and I sell them to birds lover like mine. I’ve created this blog to inspire others bird owners by sharing my personal knowledge. Good Luck!