Avitech heat elements

[michael]

A couple weeks ago, I received on order two 30 watt Avitech avian heat bulbs from Arcata pet supplies (cheapest I could find)...... So far I think their great, but of course there are some limitations. One nice thing is that these 30 watters are not really that hot. Albeit, with the exception of dangerous power cords, a bird could land on one and not really suffer burns. The only real issue at hand was where to place them. After having purchased the "ceramic" holders with clamps separately from Petsmart, the only way to utilize them was to ziptie them so they faced into and against the lower side of their cages. This was enough to provide an adequate heat exchange from just the rising of heat itself. Covering the cage while in use was a different story. A smaller cage I tried when covered reached a temp of 98 degrees F when checked by a thermometer. A little bit too warm. The larger cages when partially covered showed variables of around 80-92 degrees F. Not bad on those exceptionally cold winter days. This is really something you'd have to figure in depending on cage size and/or whether its covered at night.

For those who may be unfamiliar with these type heating elements. They do not give off the infared "red glow" such as that from certain reptile type devices. They do, on the other hand, give off an infared exchange of heat minus any light what so ever. That said, DO NOT use reptile bulbs around your birds unless you add a rotisserie, barbecue sauce, and are planning to eat them.

While i've seen similar ceramic bulbs used in many aviary's (generally of the flattened much hotter 150 watt and up version), i'm basically new to using them in a much smaller companion bird setting. Because i've noticed many members have recently had thoughts of purchasing Avitech Bulbs, any experience or idea's on using these type elements would greatly be appreciated..............:)

[linda040899]

Michael,
I've used these kinds of heating elements and holders outside during winter months to keep certain birds I was breeding warmer. I very successfully pinned the holders to the outside wire of the cage and then enclosed the entire cage with visquine (contractors plastic). The holders did not get as warm as I thought they would and it worked very well. I've used shop light holders with 200W light bulbs but switched to the kind you are using when I discovered that they give off heat but no light.

The cage does not have to be covered in order for these to be effective. You can also pin them to the outside of a cage and let the birds decide how close or how far away they want to be from the elements.

There's another product that I've been researching that I'm going to post about in just a little while. I've done a lot of reading on this and haven't found even one negative comment anywhere!

[michael]

Thanks Linda........The 30 watters seem to do just fine fastened to the(outside) of our medium sized cages, and just as well on the new larger one. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ourgoofy/3279058277/ Because our home maintains a constant temp of about 70F during the day, like the heat panels, their only kept on at night. So far, knowbodys bothered the power cords whenever their out to play, but just as well, I'll take no chances by leaving them unsupervised anytime anythings plugged in. While the bulbs are a bit pricey, they are well worth it when compared to providing other sources of heat. Much safer too.