# Cold Weather



## cookiemonster (Dec 30, 2010)

It's snowing in Texas! So I go to college and have a pretty much crappy apartment. I am pretty cheap with electricity and keep it kinda cold inside. 

She fluffs up with she is comfortably chewing on her toys or is eating, but when she is running around and I hold her on my finger, I can see her poor body shivering a bit. 

When I say she fluffs up, she doesn't turn into a snowball like this: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/4458565412_a085ac17dc.jpg


But I'd still like some advice for cold weather. I think I heard it is good to feed them seeds so she can get nice and fat?

I'd also like to know if anyone knows how normal it is for a bird to be mildly fluffed even when it is not cold.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Birds will adjust to colder temperatures by growing thicker down if the change is gradual. A sudden abrupt change is hard for them to deal with though. If the temperature inside your apartment is about the same as usual she should be OK. If it's a lot colder than usual you might want to crank up the heat a little.

I'm in southern Arizona and we're having record-breaking cold temperatures - it got down to 17 degrees outside two nights ago and last night was not as bad at 23. Last night we lost our central heating - the natural gas was cut off because of insufficient supply. Now the house temperature is in the mid-50s. I usually let the temperature drop to 60 at night anyway, and I'm surprised at the cockatiels today - they're comfortable and not fluffed up very much. I'm freezing but they're fine.


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## Duckybird (Sep 13, 2010)

Unless the temp in your apt is less than 40 degrees F, I wouldn't worry too much. I've heard they can withstand colder than that, but I can't imagine a home being that cold! An abrupt change is hard, but they do get used to it. And as long as you're positive she's healthy, there are times she can be mildly fluffed for no reason. And fluffiness and resting position varies among tiels as well. My Callie is fluffy a lot, but she was an aviary bird and doesn't play much. When she's with us she's just hanging out. So she preens, sleeps, or watches T.V. Lol. She looks like a little owl.


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