I have just about the coldest house ever. My keets' cage is right next to a window in this very old house. My room is drafty and I think the vents are slightly stopped up, so if we ever do use the heater (we're also poor) my room doesn't get much of the warmth from it.

Are there any quick fixes? Heated blankets to cover the cage with or something? I should have thought ahead and posted this sooner, but today's the first really colder day in this beginning of fall. It's 67 degrees in the room I'm in now, I'm sure my room is colder. We do have a small oil heater, but it's expensive to run those and it won't do terrible much, 'cause like I said, my room is huge and drafty.

Please help! ;n;

Can you get an electric heater to use in your room? If you can make sure it is ceramic. I have one similar to this http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10553596 and it works really well. There are cheaper ones tho. Just, like I said, be sure it's ceramic.
Can you cover the windows in your room with plastic? It will help keep out drafts and hold heat in.And move them away from the windows and have them against an inside wall?
You can also use a heating pad under the floor grate-out towel around it...and I think I've even heard of some using an electric blanket over cage? Either way you would have to keep an eye on temperature and make sure your keets can't chew on them.
Or can you move them to a warmer room for the colder months?

I just actually commented on my last post about this as well... My home as well is very old 7 drafty.. We are pretty cold in here as well, but I just went our & purchased an electric heater (ceramic) looks like the old vent heaters but its white.. mine came with a remote.. It's a whole room heater & it works great. i got it specifically for the room my birds are in so that they can stay warm. The cold will unfortunatley be harmful 7 detrimental to the birds. So I purchased the space heater just for them , and plan on getting a few more for the house anyhow. Oil heaters are not a good idea, the burning oil may not be good for the birds.. Some space heaters have a option of adding water to them so that you can get moist heat & it won't be so dry like forced heat. Good luck. We got ours from Lowe's and it was about $60

Thanks for the tips, guys!
I've moved them a bit.. kind of hard in my room 'cause one whole wall is windows and the other is closets. X3 But I put them by the porch window, which is safe from the wind. They're now at the foot of my bed instead of in the middle of the room, and it's bizarre.. I keep hearing them twitter and cheap and scuffle around and I'm certain that I still hear them where they were. XD Get awful confused when I look up and they aren't across the room, they're practically in my bed lol.
Anyway, I think I'll hit up walmart for a heater like that, that's a good idea. Thanks a bunch!

Another idea (if there is ever a power outage, or you want to cuddle with them and it's cold) is a heater pad. Like a homemade one. You put rice in a towel and sew it up or tie it up, and put it in a microwave for a minute. It usually stays warm for 20-30 minutes at a time.

Love this idea, sincerely (very creative & easy), but --- if there's a power outage, there goes the microwave! Just teasing you, Gustafson! It's also a great idea if you suddenly have an ill keet but no heating pads to put next to/under the cage.

Kksuns, your link to the ceramic heater is the answer to my prayers, so to speak -- it's affordable, simple, non-fume-producing, and my local Home Depot supposedly has them in stock! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You may very well have saved us hundreds of dollars in heating bills this coming winter!

I've held off on the space heater idea since we got Pudgie because, back in the day, they were scary, fume-emitting, floor-melting, expensive, risky, smelly, and had bad reputations for being unreliable, at best, and dangerous, at worst.

LOL! They'll probably take some time to get used to the new spot, too. I LOVE your phrase "twitter and cheep and scuffle around" -- that describes it so well! (Then there's the occasional "ding" or "rasp" when they bump into bells or shredder toys...)

Being "practically in your bed" will certainly get them used to you faster, I think.

LOL!! I totally didn't even think of that. DO'H!! Oh man. I'm a genius. Thanks for that P&R. I feel like a goon. hahaha.

Please don't feel that way, Gustafson -- lol -- One time during a power outage, I said, "Well I can't use our new oven, since it has electronic ignition, but we can use the microwave!" Hubby just looked at me...

Lol. I love the those situations. Good laugh time after the fact. Lol! Sorry for getting off topic!

Good luck Kareki. Let us know.

Okay I think I have something semi-workable lol. I bought them a little warmy nesty hut thing:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751034&lmdn=Bird
but I'm not sure I can get them to go in it. Sunny ate the millet out of it and Cloud sits on top of it, but I guess they're either too afraid or not cold enough. X3
But it'll work. They get the idea, it's warm. That makes me feel better, having that. Just a heater or a warmer blanket on top made me kinda nervous for them, but this is up to them to use if they're too cold and I like that.

I have one of those and neither of my guys will go in it. Levi will stretch reeealy far to grab millet or a toy out of it if I put something in to try to lure them in. Ziggy won't even go near it! LOL I ended up just removing it
So I guess you're lucky that yours will sit on it or eat out of it. LOL That's a start...hopefully one day they will be brave enough to actually go IN!

Lol -- Pudgie wouldn't go in her snuggle huts even with millet in them! I've tried many types of huts with no success, but other people's keets often love those things...!

Yay Sunny likes it! I peeked in my room, and he peeked around from inside the little snuggle thing! XD It was so cute, he looked like he was guilty- quickly hopped out, bopped around acting like he was never doing anything else lol.
Cloud still seems wary, but I'm sure he'll get the idea from Sunshine.

it says u live in cali it cant be that cold there.
im glad sunny is getting used to it

I don't see why you would feel weird about putting blankets and / or heavy towels on their cage.

I use whatever I can find and they don't mind at all. Of course, I do leave some corners open and in the front I leave the bottom open about 6 inches, for fresh air. My birds don't mind at all. Yoi'd be surprised how much a blanket will keep out the cold! This is for night time. In the daytime, if it's cold, I just keep the back and part of the sides covered. They are in front of the window so I have to be very careful to keep out drafts. I keep towels at the base of the windows to keep out any cold air leaking in. I DO have double storm windows though, so not too much cold air seeps in.

Also I have a small heater that oscilates and has a thermostat, and I keep it on the lowest temp when I'm gone.

I think our keets are very adaptable and don't mind things like this as long as they are comfy. It's mainly the DRAFTS that you have to worry about. (Unless you live in a place where it's freezing and /or below that). Then I'm sure you will have worked this all out!

It would be interesting to hear how everyone deals with winter.

I think I have posted this before, but at my local aviary you can watch the budgies playing in the snow if you are lucky enough, I haven't had the honour yet but the one worker says it's quite a sight.

Sudden changes in temp. are not good, like if i take someone from a warm climate and toss them out in the snow with no winter coat they'd get sick, but they change with the temp. change.

They are adaptable creatures. Smart too, if it gets too cold , they will go in a happy hut, whether they have before or not. But your home should not have drastic temp. changes anyway.

I don't feel weird about it, I still use a good blanket for them at night, I just prefer to have something they can control. So if they're too cold they don't have to wait for me to figure it out, they can get snuggly on their own. X3

8D! This is why I love the happyhut.
It is quite chilly in the house right now and they both decided to snuggle in it. X3
I'm so glad they like it-- and each other! lol

wow how great that they both get in there together. What cute pics, thanks for sharing. I have had a happy hut for months. My guys wont go near it. That makes me want to try it again. I think I will dig it out and see if they will use it.

Looks like you have two boys so you dont have to worry about them trying to use it for a nest.

Hehe, yeah it's really cute. They kind of rough house in there sometimes, so the little thing will be bopping around then one gets shoved out. XD

How can you tell they're boys?

They both have very blue cere (the area just above their beak). If eigher one was a girl she would have a tan or brownish cere.

You're little guys are beautiful Kareki. Ans they look so darn cute in there It does look cozy. lol
What are their names? You might have already said but...

Keke thanks. They are precious. X3
green is Sunshine, blue is Cloud. ^^

I've updated my pages on keeping a keet warm during the winter - let me know if there's anything I missed!

Keeping a Keet Warm

Great - thanks, that will be a help for a lot of keet owners.

i always wanted my birds to have that little hut thing. do you think it will be ok if i have a girl and boy parakeet and put that in their cage. i don't want them to have a nest or anything.

Peepers - if you have a girl and a boy and you DO NOT want babies I would not get them a cozy hut. Owners have reported that they did not have any breeding issues until they put a hut in the cage and then their female started laying.

They will see it as a nest.

I have to agree with BLR..putting a hut in with your male and female is just asking for "trouble".

thanks guys for telling me before i got it. that would been an awkward experiance to wake up and see a little egg in the tent in the keets's cage.