Heated Perches

[Birdy916]

You know, the K&H ThermoPerch
I dont like running my central heating constantly, and winter is definitely coming.
I do leave the thermostat set at 58 but the birdroom is one of the colder rooms in the house with the big windows and all...

You guys ever use these heated perches and are they worth the money?
Likes/dislikes about them?

most importantly, are they energy-efficient or will 3 mediums run up my lectric bill anyways(I see nothing about wattage)?
On that note, is the medium-size the correct size for Jenday Conure and Mustache Parakeet, or should I go with the small as some reviewers recommend?

Amazon of course has tons of reviews from people that love them, but what do real actual parrot-people think?

 

[MonicaMc]

Never used a heated perch but I do have a ceramic heat lamp for one of my birds.

My birds are also accustomed to temps usually within the 50's to 80's throughout the year.... and temperature varies depending upon the time of year as well as the time of day/outside temps.

Heater is only set to come on twice a day to warm the house up with a min temp of 60° F if it gets colder than that... except for weekends which it's usually on more often.

 

[Birdy916]

nobody has used them??

 

[Maria_Metropolis]

I figure if there are not heated perches in the wild, then why would we need them for our parrots? If you keep your house at the proper temperature, that should suffice.

 

[Mattroma]

I have two, 1 for my macaw and one in my budgie cage. I went with the new sand ones, and have only had them in a couple of weeks. my macaw loves his, find him on there all the time. I only wish the perch was as good on his nails as the regular sand perch.

 

[KimKim]

I have one but my grey won't sit on it

 

[Birdy916]

My thermo perches are here!
Got em all set up in the cages and plugged in.
Benji is already napping on his!

Makes me feel better especially since its been REALLY cold here lately...(anything below 60 is cold in Sacramento, Ca)


Eta- I dunno about smooth/sandy thermos, I think the older ones are the smooth type, but the ones I received have kind of a slightly raised wood-grain pattern on them, my fingers seem to get excellent grip and Benji seems quite content...

 

[getwozzy]

I like the idea of heated perches, but my Chili would try her best to chew on the cord part..

 

[TessieB]

I like the idea of heated perches, but my Chili would try her best to chew on the cord part..

That would be my worry: a bird getting electrical burns from chewing on the wire.

 

[Mattroma]

I was worried about my macaw chewing the cord. I slipped the cord through a small piece of PVC to protect it.

 

[Birdy916]

Here is Trouble on his, he was napping till i just woke him up...

I got him the medium size which does run a little big, perfect for the Alexandrine tho.

I got the small size for my conure and the spare(benji is now back at the rescue for his drs appt tomoro...

 

[GaryBV]

I would definitely get heated perches if I was concerned my birds were too cold - In the summer I leave my air conditioning at 70F, and in winter (like now) I keep my furnace at 71F - so I think that is fine for them. So pretty much 70F year round. I'm a bit surprised how expensive those heated perches are but I'd rationalize it as a one time buy.

 

[Birdy916]

Man at 6 watts, this thing is much more economical to run and gets the heat specifically where it needs to be, compared to running my electric furnace day and night even if it is a brandnew energy efficient one...

Couldnt beat it, I spent about 120$ for the 3, but like you said its a 1-time cost and Ill be reimbursed next year and after in my electric bill.

Im like a polar bear, Id rather be cold and put a sweatshirt on than have my house be hot or even warm all the time...
In my location its around 90-100 for almost half the year, so I appreciate winter for what it is...

As far as the cord is concerned, it is wrapped in a close wire spiral and it comes out of the mount in such a way that it sticks straight out and hangs about 2 inches away from the cage, so if you place your cage in such a way against a wall and your bars are the right size for your bird, it shouldnt be able to get to the wirewhich will run down the wall and the bird cant get between the wall and the cage...
But I do like the idea of pvc or even metal conduit to hide it in... I may do that if I see a problem

Its well past birdy bed time and both birds are sleeping on their thermoperches...

 

[Birdy916]

Its been roughly a week since I got these thermo perches, and my birds LOVE them.
They sleep on the perches every night, and I didnt replace their regular sleeping perches, I just put the heated ones right next to them....

Money well-spent if you ask me...

 

[Blueridge]

How often do you keep the perches heated? All day? Just wondering, seems like a great christmas present for my parrot!

Thanks!

 

[Birdy916]

yes, for right now they are plugged in all day and night, theres no switch so if its plugged in, its on...

I might put them on some timers tho.... My location is just coming out of a really cold spell, so hopefully I can just have them on at night till about February...

I got the Medium and Small sizes, and at 6 and 5 watts respectively, having the 2 plugged in all day is like having a 13w light bulb on, doesnt really suck alot of juice and run up the bill...

I did the math for lightbulbs when I switched over from incandescants, and 13w only costs pennies a month on my bill, so Im happy with that compared to the electric furnace..

They would make a GREAT present for your birds!!