Camping with your Lori ??? Experience or advice, please?

[bgriffin70]

Okay; so we're into our Summer season here in southern Oregon and the temps are well into the 90s during the day but the nights are quite cool; temps can drop to around 50.

We decided to try tent camping last night and Green Bean loved it when we got to the site! Today was quite warm but not too hot; about 90 degrees but we kept her on her tree stand, in the shade where a nice breeze was blowing and misted her off with her spray bottle a couple of times, which she enjoys as well.

The problem !!! - - - as night fell; the temperature dropped quickly and we knew it was time to get her to bed. Remember... we've only got a tent to camp in; a nice one with complete covered rainfly drape built in and closing windows but it was still pretty 'chilly.'

I began worrying about Green Bean maybe getting sick so after being restless and unable to sleep due to the worry of the cold forecast lows down around 55 degrees; I just jumped out of the sleeping bag; woke the wife and we headed home. Green Bean seemed to be doing okay when I checked on her, but I don't know; one time I thought she looked as if she was shivering.

We had her smaller travel cage completely covered with her sheet AND a sleeping bag but left a small opening for good air flow obviously... didn't want to smother her.

Now with this long rambling narrative behind me... does anyone here take their lorikeet camping ( tent camping ) where temps are up and down such as today... 90 degrees and sunny daytime; 55 degrees and starry skies at night ?!?!? Or am I a complete fool and irresponsible to Green Bean putting her at risk of becoming ill ???

I would love to take her more often; she talked all day long and kept saying hello to all the new birds she heard in the woods... even told one bird, "watch it; this is Green Bean's house!"
I know I'm bragging again; but I'm telling you; this bird is really, really special; she's so smart and just about the best thing in the world to me right now. I couldn't stand knowing that I made her sick by doing something so stupid.

But... if it's common or something that lorikeets can deal with; then please let me know your experiences, thoughts or opinions. Okay; I promise I'm open to complete criticism and name calling as well.
Thanks to everyone for reading and for your help !!!!!

Desperately seeking advice on what to do from here......

 

[bgriffin70]

Forgot to mention after reading this... we did take her home right away once realizing it was too chilly. The nice thing; the campground is only an hour away. So we took her home and put her back into her snuggly warm cage; she seems fine today back at home.

 

[Phlox]

I think you probably overreacted.

Lorikeets live all along the coasts of Australia, and it can get below freezing temps there in the winter. Not that taking your bird outside in the snow is a good plan, but I think 55 with a full belly and a covered cage probably wasn't a big deal.

I know a lot of people who've taken birds camping...I took a green cheek conure and I've seen macaws and amazons. Usually they have trailers, but no one puts on the heat in July. Sometimes in early fall it'll get to 60 in my house and we've been doing great for years.

Just my experience, but I think you could have stayed.

 

[Dinosrawr]

Have a look at this thread: http://www.parrotforums.com/caiques/45193-safe-caique-go-camping.html

Acclimatizing your bird is important if you plan on taking them out in winter, but during the summer chances are they'll be fine. I'd be more worried about mosquito bites or birds of prey to be completely honest. If you ever felt like you needed to put a sweater on, then yes, it'd be a good idea to warm up your bird a bit. But shivering is very natural and is indeed a way for them to warm up. A little cold here and there won't kill your bird so long as it doesn't significantly drop.

I live in a basement suite and it happens to be air conditioned as well. It gets pretty dang cold down here sometimes, but my birds have never had a problem with it. Avery has a snuggle hut that keeps her warm when she needs it and Shiko has a snuggle corner. So long as you provide them the means to warm up, I'm sure all is well in their birdy world.

 

[bgriffin70]

Thank you, both. Good info; and you bet... I did overreact and just drove her back home at 1am. The wife and I were just scared that she would wind up getting sick. Lessons learned...
On the snuggle hut; we did buy her one. She's afraid of it. LOL
I think she's truly claustrophobic !!! And I say that one in all seriousness. She refused to sleep in it or even get in it and would 'squack' at it, so we just took it out of her cage.

And just a few more details... this was at a public campground right off the highway, so it's not like we were back in the wilderness. I know anything can happen when camping; just thought I'd throw that in there since there's no way I'd ever consider 'primitive' camping with a bird. We didn't have an electric site since we were just tenting it; but we did have water and were not off deep in the woods or nothing like that.