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Humidifier for birds?

Parakeet88

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I live in the north east US and as winter is approaching I'm thinking of ways I can keep my birds comfortable. I live in an old apartment and it's difficult to keep the temperature stable (it never gets really cold but I have a hard time finding the right heat setting). I bought one of those heat plates for my keets a while ago but they have no interest in it so I'm thinking my GCC may appreciate it more.

Anyway I was looking into getting a humidifier for myself and for the birds but having a machine full of water seems to be asking for mold and bacteria growth. Are humidifiers safe for birds? Would it help keep them comfortable or is it not that big of a deal? Just looking for some general info and other opinions. Anything else I should look into for them as winter approaches? Thanks!
 

Familyof12

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Liz
I keep a humidifier and I live in Northern California. It gets dry here sometimes and I use it. Yes, mold is a huge issue with humidifiers. Can you purchase something like this:

Amazon.com: Generic GEN60528 Temperature and Humidity Meter with Alarm Clock Hygrometer: Home & Kitchen

They reasonably cheap and shows the temperature and humidity. We keep the temperature at 78F and humidity of 40% in our birds' room 24/7. Our home was built in the 40's but the birds' room is special. It has the most sun (all summer/winter) and one of the largest rooms. Our home is kept at 72 in the winter except on weekend we crank it to 85 and we let the birds have the whole house to themselves to fly free.

Our birds are from tropical regions. That means it rains a lot where they are from and pretty warm. That should be the climate they live in when they are with us.
 

Parakeet88

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@Familyof12 is that just a monitor to track the temp/ humidity? I will get one since I don't have a way to actually track it but I know for sure it's really dry here (this is the first time I've had major issues with dry feet so I'm hoping it will help me too). I'm guessing any humidifier I get would just have to be cleaned often. How often do you clean it and what do you use? I'm looking to upgrade to a bigger/ nicer apartment soon but right now my birds are in the living room.

Keets and bourkes are from Australia, right? I'm sure the humidifier wouldn't bother them but I think my GCC would benefit most from it.
 

Familyof12

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Yes, it monitors it. I had a lot of them to give away (I wish I still had some left) when I was teach aquaponics. They had to keep the greenhouse temperatures very consistent in order to avoid mold and mildew within the greenhouse. It is excellent for tracking the temp/humidity. I would keep it near the birds so you know what the temp is. I don't get mold in my humidifier ever. You may see a white film on your furniture if you have hard water. Our water is filtered before it even comes into my home. We installed it during the drought as I didn't trust our water during that time.

Our humidifier, heater, all can be plugged into a timer too. These timers are basically programmable, you plug your heater, humidifier into it and it will turn it on and off per your schedule. See below.

Sunlite 05005-SU T300 7 Day Indoor Heavy Duty Digital Programmable Timer - - Amazon.com

Our chickens heat lamp out in our coop is on a timer system and temperature system. If it falls below a certain temp (78) it turns on. That is a little more pricy. I believe I do have lots of extra timer outlets. Let me know if you want one.
 

Parakeet88

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Yeah I used to have loads of fancy timer power strips when I had fish tanks. I'll have to look into what kind of humidifier to get. I wouldn't be surprised if I had hard water but I'm not sure.
 

Parakeet88

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wow that one does seem nice, price isn't bad either
 
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