Hi, Here in Houston zone 8B most bird breeders just get insulated nest boxes for all types of parrots and sometimes wrap some plastic around their outside breeder cages to protect from cold wind. The lady in the Texas hill country where I got my cockatoo says that even when there is a light freeze the birds come out of their nest boxes and beck through the ice in their water dishes to drink. We had some amazon parrots in an outside flight year round and along with plastic around the flight we also used pearlco ceramic heat bulbs over an area where they liked to perch....they don't get hot enough to burn one if they are touched, but will keep birds warm if they sit next to them. There are also some heat pannels that are flat like a picture that you can hang oustide of the cage so that birds can sit next to them. Just make sure that you keep the cord out of reach of any beaks. Even tropical birds such as amazons, cockatoos, macaws, cockateils etc. are all left outside here in zone 8B so I would not worry in zone 10. Why don't you visit some aviaries down in your zone and ask how the deal with the cold. I don't think that they do anything outside where you are except to provide a nest box to keep warm in at night. Tropical birds can adapt to lower temperatures than you think if the wind is kept off of them is what I have heard. Temperatures into the upper thirties will not harm them if you take these precautions.
Be careful if you wrap any plastic to protect them from wind that there is enough air space so that they do not overheat in any sun of the day. My concern would be theft. I hope you are not going to keep really expensive birds outside. Get some good locks and maybe a dog to guard them if you do. Good luck, Lesley

Hi
Thank you very much for the very informative reply. I figured I should have explained myself further . So here goes
I had some hurricane damage to the attached orchid house
so I decided to expand it to 25x25 feet. I want it to house
all the sensitive plants.the large terrarium and the tropical fish. Also a place to locate yard plants that need some protection om the rare cold nights. Occured to me that this would be an excellent place to keep some softbill birds. Probably tropical tanagers,sugarbirds and just maybe some hummingbirds. Obviously ,not for any type of parrot.
Can you imagine what they'd do to 300 orchids?? lol 30 minutes of chew toys lol. I have a separate aviary where I keep birds where they can chew to their hearts content and I've always maintained them out side with no problems at all.
Since I'm redoing it anyway I thought it would be a good time to upgrade to some type of year around climate control. Now if I could just figure out how!!lol
I have ,on average, around 3 weeks per year when temps would fall below ideal but even then not for more than 2 days at a time. Last year for example the low was 42 while the coolest daytime high was 57. The record is a low of 26
with 45 as a daytime high.
Obviously any type of wall covering would keep it far too warm 98 percent of the year. The local zoo encloses and then air conditions the rest of the year. That doesn't seem practicle for me.
In the past I've used frost cloth with forced heat from the house along with a heated 200 gallon aquarium. Have never had frost damage but obviosly the outside walls get well below 50 for hours. and since the space will almost be double I doubt this will be adequet. Who knows what mother nature will do next year.lol
Obviosly very easy to provide warm spots for the animals
but sure would like to have a way to control the entire area. The yearly highs just don't seem to warrent the expense of air.
As you know birds can be VERY sensitive not to mention expensive lol Would sure be the pits to loose them for a few hours of cold
of course this would also be good for the tropical plants
and I could also keep the reptiles within the enclosure.
Thanks again
gary

How about some small electric or propane heaters with thermostats to go on below a certain temperature. Stores on line that sell greenhouses sell heaters like this. Like Charleysgreenhouse.com has some as do other sources. Good luck, Lesley

Lesley
That is what I'm using at the present time. The trick would be to figure out a way for the shadehouse to hold heat but not all day.
I remember during our famous "deep freeze" when the temp fell to 26 for 4 hours !! I covered the shadehouse with plastic and installed a heater with a thermostat.I had to go to work before dawn which is always the coldest part of the day so had no choice but to leave it in place. . The therostat worked perfectly but the retention of the full sunlight caused the temp to soar. The ambient air temp had climbed to 65 by 3 pm. and it was 125 inside the shadehouse!!
Since then I've just used partial covering with frost cloth.I usually have to remove that by 10 AM.
Works fine for the plants but of course there are cold spots near the outside walls.
There must be a way without resorting to air ....Thanks
gary

One solution is to install an exhaust fan on a thermostat.
Also a circulating fan or two. The plants will benefit from the improved air circulation.
This way you will not have to worry about removing the frost cloth.
How do you attach the frost cloth? You could make it like a roll up window shade with the cords and pulley's. Like the way bamboo shades are made. Easy up, easy down.

Hi
I just lay the frost cloth over about a third of the roof area and force heat from the house when temps fall below 50.Of course this allows cold spots I've always used circulating fans due to the heat buildup on the SE corner.
I've tried the roll up shades made of the frost cloth but find they won't last over a year or two when exposed to the elements. If I take them down they are a huge storage problem. Another problem is the plants will grow out of the shadehouse especially with years between frosts..
Last year my coldest temp was 42 for not quite 4 hours.
Thanks for the suggestions.
gary

I also live in Florida and cooling was the hardest part. We have no problems with heating during the winter. We do live near the water in Venice so frost is not a real problem here. Ours has shade cloth and lath to keep the sun under control. There are 2 fans setup at the rear each on its own thermostat. One comes on at 85 degrees and the other at 100 degrees . The second one has not been on yet. I also mist for 30 seconds every 15 minutes during the day via roof and shelf foggers. Watering is done once every 2 days .
Here is a link to our greenhouse. It's a quicky I made to show someone our irrigation setup. There are a few sick orchids, kiki's and starts and a BIG orchid in it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Greenhouse

Hi
Thanks very much for the pix. What are you using as a wall covering?? looks like corrugated plastic or fiberglass?? Do iou frequently get over 100??
I just use 1/4 inch hardware cloth and lattice on the roof. I never have more than 2 degrees above ambient air temp. I was afaid of using any type of wall covering due to heat trapping. I've frequently allowed my orchids to get into the high 30's for less than 2 hours. I maintain the 40's mainly for the Palms and Nepenthes.
Now the problem is I want to keep it above 60 without resorting to air for the other 360 days a year lol
Thanks very much for the pix.Always interesting to see what others are doing!!
gary

Ours is certified for 130 mph wind gust and a steady 110 mph wind load. I had to have a engineer go over the plans and specify it would meet the requirements for zone 1. ( note to those from up north that means within 1 mile of the coast). One of the disadvantage of the new Florida building codes. Sarasota County requires permits for anything bigger than a doghouse and a doghouse size greenhouse would have been to small. I thought about sneaking it up but the watchdog old f**ts around here would surely have reported me. So its way over built. Those are lexan walls. The highest temp we have recorded so far is just at 104 on a day when it hit 98. The fogging brings it back down quickly.

Kwertz
The trick to working with building codes is careful selection of names Such as my aviary is actually a"Connected trellis"lol Shadehouse became a "screen room" when getting permits.Interesting that I could build a 9 foot high "trellis" but not an "aviary" Can't keep "Fowl" within the city limits but" birds" are okay lol
Can't imagine what I'd run accross if I called it a "greenhouse" Bet I'd be required to have solid walls lol
I'm actually building a" plant trellis" so no problem.
A "trellis can't have solid walls.lol
Might ask what you plan is if you have no power?? I was without power a total of 33 days last year.
I was soooo glad that the walls were not enclosed,Even though I had no fans I still never got above 5 degrees of air. I guess it would become a "pottery kiln " then?? lol
Oh well. I probably won't get started on this project until winter.Don't want to do anything during hurricane season and it's too hot anyway
I do have great hopes for the "drip wall" and building it in sections. Wonder what they'll say if I apply for a "Drip wall" permit??lol
gary

When I built my workshop it was a storage building. Much easier than trying to permit a building with air conditioning and 100 amp service.
I tried to permit a building built with lathe and screen walls but could not figure a way around the new building codes. They became worse about 2 years ago. before then it would have only cost me $25 and a copy of our lot plan showing where I was going to put the greenhouse. Now they want engineering specifications.
It does not help that not only do we have the watchbirds, we also have a company that is paid to catch folks who build without permits. My neighbour who was replacing his front door had a run in with them. Another who was putting a portable carport in had a stop work order. I guess they do not want stuff blowing around in the wind.
We have a neighbour with an aviary who is having to move it. To many birds becomes a business and you cannot have one in our area. If we loose power I can open the front door to the greenhouse and keep it from becoming a kiln.
How many types of plants do you have? We started coffee plants amd passion flowers in the greenhouse so its used as more than a orchid sickhouse/nursery. Our yard is becomming slowly overrun with plants and trees and orchids.

Kwertz
I lost track a long time ago as to how many plants I have lol. I built the "screen room" in 81.It houses mostly the Nepenthes mostly because the squirrels will eat the traps not because of climate.lol I also keep the Alocasias and Anthuriums and the understory palms. They flourish in the humid atmosphere.I tried 3 years ago to attach Cattleyas
Dends,and Epicatts directly to the limbs of an Orange tree.
Mixed results sofar ,have not lost any but the ones in the screenroom look far healthier and bloom more.
Also have a pool there where I experiment with tropical amphibious plants. I desparately need to divide and reposition most of the terete vandas and nepenthes as well as the epi fern. Main reason I wanted to expand.A "drip wall" would be soooo much fun to work with. Have done so in Terraria but on limited scale of course.
Have so far had no problem with neighbors about the birds.Of course the neighbor to the west of me is keeping chickens lol I told them if you don't tell on me I won't tell on you. I've never tried to sell my birds and the aviary can't be seen from the street but anyway it's a "trellis"lol
I live in an old section of town and been here for over 25 years. Might have something to do with it??
gary