Ceiling fans and safety

[CBrown]

Hi All,

So I've had my quaker almost a year and when I decided to take her, I knew I'd have to have ceiling fans off whenever she was out...which I'd planned would be whenever I'm home to monitor her. I knew some friends who's parrot hit a moving ceiling fan and died so I knew the dangers.

But here's the thing...I'm in South Florida and it's insanely hot and muggy most of the year and unless the ac is turned to blasting cold, it's stuffy without a ceiling fan. I use portable fans instead but they're space-consuming, noisy, and not always that effective etc. And with a housemate who likes to turn the ac to warmer temps during the day (arghh!) it can be gross. But for the bird, I do this.

My question is: Is there any way for a bird to learn to navigate and be safe around a ceiling fan? On the lowest speed? Just curious. I work at a wildlife center and one of the bosses for a time had a permitted great horned owl living in her house for the its first year while the owl was trained and acclimated to be an educational owl. The owl was imprinted and non-releasable and therefore also fully flighted...reportedly this owl flew free through the house, navigating the ceiling fans and all. Now, of course that's a much bigger bird...but made me wonder if there were a chance a parrot would be safe with the fans.

Thanks for any tips.

-from Hot in Florida lol

 

[LunaLovebird]

You can never predict the trajectory of a bird that gets spooked. That's the biggest issue, IMO. I personally would never risk it, coming from the sub tropics myself and knowing the pain of not being able to use a ceiling fan.

 

[Sweet Louise]

wonder if there would be a way to encase it, wind goes out, bird doesn't get in.

 

[Macawnutz]

Something like this?

Beckwith Ceiling Fan by Fanimation Fans at Lumens.com

 

[CBrown]

That Beckwith fan is cool...too bad it's so expensive. And in reply to LunaLoveBird, yeah ceiling fan option is probably never gonna be possible for that reason. Psittacines have very different attitudes and reactions than the owl that could fly safely around fans.

 

[Macawnutz]

They have caged ceiling fans, you could also get creative and make a cage for yours.

 

[JLcribber]

It's not ever going to be safe to run a fan and have a flying bird. Not if but when it will happen.

You can get cage fans for existing fans. If you're handy with tools you can even make one with some chicken wire and a little wood.

 

[Mitzi]

We keep our ceiling fans off until the birds are caged at night. We have several tower fans going, but must admit they are noisy at the higher setting than the ceiling fan. I'm in SE Texas so have to have a fan running to help as keep our A/C on 83 during the day.

 

[txdyna65]

@JLcribber John my wife would kill me if I put chicken wire in our livingroom lol
Im quite handy with tools and woodworking, but Im pretty sure she would draw the line at chicken wire, even if it is a good idea

 

[karen256]

There are bladeless ceiling fans which also look very nice. They do have moving parts - rotating disks - but are still much safer than traditional bladed fans.
Exhale Fans

Otherwise you can just google "enclosed ceiling fans" and there are many options that actually look nice and decorative (main downside is that they all seem to be smaller fans).

 

[ConcettaParson]

When you have a pet bird inside your home there are two possibilities of risks in case of ceiling fans. First one is as you said, the birds may hit in the moving ceiling fan. In the next case, even if you turn off the switch, the fan may not have great strength. The bird may fly and sit in your ceiling fan and there are chances where the ceiling fan may fall down along with the bird if your fan is not installed properly. So you should be very careful while installing a ceiling fan. Here are few tips to install a ceiling fan in a safe way Ceiling Fan Safety - The Shock Doctors In case of installation you can prefer bladeless ceiling fan(Super cool bladeless ceiling fan – Exhale ceiling fan as Karen said, instead of normal ceiling fans. I've already installed the bladeless ceiling fan. It is more attractive and cooler than the normal fans.

 

[hellblaze]

i live in india but i still keep the ceiling fans off because my budgies fly like jet planes on steroids