CAG going thru winter, and treats

[Fayfay Goes Moo]

so i just recently bought my CAG mickey, and he seems skinny and well caged in at the petstore. he settled down quickly because i cut down a tree and its in my room so he have lots of space and there are no cages, so he can be more 'free'. its going to be winter soon so i plan on making him gain a little weight so he doesnt freeze in winter since in nyc its really cold :/ and i have to go to school so the heater wont be on 24/7. so is this a good idea? and also at the petsore they just get like a food bowl and the people dont really care, its like he eats it, he eats it, if he dont, he dont. all they really do is like play around wiht it, or more like mess wiht it. so the poor birdie didnt really get any real attention. so now i found out he really loves sunflowerseeds, so im putting sunflowerseeds mainly in there. but i want him on pellets tho because he doesnt seem to likey any other treat. i want to train him asap but if he is on a sunflowerseed diet there isnt really any point for him to work for it. so any other treats that arent messy that CAGs love? thanks

[liz]

Welcome to the forum.

All critters need to plump for winter.

What do you mean the heater won't be on? What other heat sorce will you have. Most parrots are tropical birds and need to be warm all the time. Can you explain the situation?

I like the tree idea. I did it too.

[Fayfay Goes Moo]

haha thanks its like the big main heater wont be on like 24/7 because basically no one is home, so should i stick to like the mini portable heaters? and how can i plump him up? like any food suggestions?

[liz]

I am afraid to advise you on this. I don't turn my heat down when I leave. It takes a lot of energy to bring the house back to the temperature you want so I just leave mine on.

I would also never turn heat off when I left one of my kids home - even a dog or cat and sertainly not a tropical bird.

Let's see what the others think you should do.

[GlassOnion]

Be VERY careful with portable heaters. Many have non-stick teflon coating on it, the fumes from which actually kills the birds. That's also why you need to get rid of non-stick pans in the kitchen.

I would 100% make sure the heater doesn't have PFTE coating.

[Natacha]

I keep the heater on all day - wouldn't trust the portable ones for the reasons given by GlassOnion.

[Fayfay Goes Moo]

ooh okies thanks for the advise. my CAG right now is talking sooo much XD he is saying, hello, hi, <-- different tones, like chirpy, etc, clucks, and whistles XD oh maw gawd, he just said what u doing, and is laughing XD and im teachnig him i love u and hes picking it up sooo quickly XD i <# him but ehhh i needa train him on tricks XD O_o i just said i love u and he just said i dont know XD wow i love him XD so unexpected because yesterday he didnt talk as much XD. then again today was the first day of hs for me i think he misses me =P hahahaa. and so i should keep the heater on right

[liz]

Right.

I have seen XD in other posts but don't know what it means.

[Fayfay Goes Moo]

its a face

[liz]

Got it.