It’s the dead heat of summer and you don’t have any air conditioning.
What do you turn to?
Your ceiling fans of course.
Ceiling fans are a great way to help us stay cool in the hot summer months but when we have a bird they can be questionable for obvious reasons.
If our bird flies around the house, it’s only normal that we would be concerned about them flying straight into the ceiling fan.
Even if our bird doesn’t fly around the house, what would happen if it ever escaped its cage?
This leads us to the question, are ceiling fans bad for parakeets?
The dangers of using a ceiling fan are obvious when you have a parrot or parakeet. Parakeets have been killed in ceiling fans. For this reason they’re not overly recommended if you own a parakeet. With that being said, there are some safety tips that you can use to help reduce the risk of your parrot being hurt by your ceiling fan.
We will talk more about these safety tips below and answer some commonly asked questions such as do parrots like fans?
Can parrots sleep with a fan on?
And is it ever safe to let my parakeet fly around with the fan on?
Today we will answer all of these questions and more so let’s not waste another minute.
Do Parrots and Parakeets like ceiling fans?
How your parakeet or parrot will react to a fan being blown on them will differ from parrot to parrot.
Like humans, parrots each have their own unique and individual personalities and some will be more fearful of fans than others.
Some parrots will welcome a fan being blown on them while others may get easily spooked from the sound or the wind.
Of course, parrots require a comfortable temperature to thrive.
An environment that is too cold or an environment that is too hot can be damaging to a parrot’s health.
For this reason, it’s understandable why some people would need to use a fan in a parrot’s room if they don’t have air conditioning.
The best way to know how your parrot feels about a fan being blown on them is to try it out in a safe environment.
Keep your parrot in its cage while trying out the fan.
At first, keep the fan at quite a distance.
If your parrot acts as though they are frightened or nervous, move the fan farther away until they become comfortable with it.
If they don’t seem to be bothered by it, try moving the fan a little closer to see how they react.
Can parrots sleep with a fan on?
If your parakeet sleeps in its cage, you probably don’t have to worry about the concern of it flying into a fan.
With that being said, there are some other concerns that need to be considered.
First off, if you’re going to use a fan in your parrot’s room, you need to ensure that you keep their cage very clean.
If their droppings remain in their cage for a few days, they can dry out.
When these droppings dry out they break down into dust.
If you have a fan on, this dust can blow up into your parrot’s face and they can inhale it.
These droppings contain many bacteria that is not healthy for your birds to inhale (Or for you to inhale for that matter).
Furthermore, some parrots have a great deal of dander which can also be inhaled when a fan is blowing it into the air.
When entered into the lungs, this dander can cause allergic reactions, inflammation, and other unwanted reactions.
Not only are dried droppings and dander harmful to your parrot, but they can also be harmful to you or anyone else within their environment.
In cases where a parrot carries a disease that is contagious to people, airborne dust from parrot droppings can be extremely dangerous resulting in flu-like symptoms and severe pneumonia.
The second thing to take into consideration before blowing a fan on your parrot is the preening process.
To help you understand better, let’s first explain a little about the process of preening.
Birds and parrots have thousands and thousands of feathers.
In fact, they can have anywhere from 10,000 to 25, 000 individual feathers.
Each day your parrot works hard to keep these feathers neat, clean, and organized.
This is called preening.
When a parrot preens or cleans their feathers they are not only ensuring that each feather is in the proper position, but they are also removing dust, dirt, and parasites.
As you can imagine, a fan that is blowing wind on your parrot all night can wreak havoc on all of your parrot’s hard work.
The movement from the fan can disrupt their perfectly preened feathers.
In an attempt to put their feathers back in place, your parrot may become flustered and accidentally destroy their own feathers.
For this reason, fan use should be limited.
Is it ever safe to let my parakeet fly around with a fan on?
No. The reality is most parrots and parakeets will know well enough to stay away from a ceiling fan.
With that being said, accidents do happen.
This is why they are called ‘accidents’.
Not only that, but you cannot predict the flight path of a parrot that is spooked.
Even if your parrot is smart enough to stay away from a moving fan on a normal day, a bird that is frightened or spooked can become sporadic and may not pay attention to where they are flying.
For this reason you should never leave a fan on when your parakeet is out of the cage unless they have their wings clipped.
Are there any ceiling fan safety tips I should be aware of?
If at all possible, you should avoid using ceiling fans when you have parrots.
With that being said, we also understand that this is not always possible.
If you don’t have air conditioning and it’s the middle of summer, you’re going to need to find a way to stay cool.
If you’re too hot and overheating, so is your parrot.
So how can you keep your parrot safe when using a fan?
Never put a fan directly on your parrot.
If at all possible, tilt your fan away from your parrot’s cage.
This will be enough to stimulate air movement without having the fan blow directly on your parrot.
This will reduce the risk of dust and particles being inhaled, and will be less annoying than blowing directly on your parrot.
Keep your parrot in another room while your ceiling fan is being used.
If you need to cool down the room that your parrot is in, make sure that your parrot is in their cage and their cage is securely locked.
If they are out of their cage and you are using a ceiling fan, make sure that they are wearing a harness and are securely attached so that they cannot fly into the fan.
Invest in a fan cage.
You can buy fans with fan cages around them or you can buy a fan cage to put over your ceiling fan. Check out these ones on Amazon.
While this does not completely terminate the risk of injury, it does drastically reduce it.
In the case that your parrot does fly towards the fan, injuries will be more minor.
How do I know if my parrot is too hot?
As a general rule of thumb, if you are overheating so is your parrot.
With that being said, there are some signs that you can look for that will tell you that your parrot is too hot:
Your parrot is acting stressed out or out of character
Your parrot is being more passive than usual or more aggressive than usual
Your parrot is panting or breathing heavily with their mouth open
Your parrot is displaying signs of neurological distress
Your parrot is being abnormally quiet and sitting on the floor of their cage.
What should I do if my parrot is overheating?
In most cases you won’t have to call a veterinarian if your parrot is overheating.
Try misting your bird with some cool water or cooling it off in a bath that is room temperature.
Be careful not to make the water too cold as this could cause your bird to go into shock.
If you don’t want to give them a full bath, moisten their legs and feet.
This can also help to drop their temperature.
You can also move your parrot’s cage to a shaded spot or to a spot near an open window with a breeze.
Remember that you don’t want to drop your parrot’s temperature too quickly because this can be dangerous as well.
If your parrot is overheating and is no longer responding, you need to take them to the veterinarian immediately.
This is an emergency and requires professional intervention.
Your veterinarian will more than likely give your parrot an electrolyte solution to help them recover.
In conclusion, it’s not recommended that you use a ceiling fan or any other type of fan around your parrot.
With that being said, if the temperature in your home is too hot and it’s the only way to cool it down, make sure that you take extra precautions to keep your parrot safe.