Pam,

Just to let you know, that was a good question, it was not silly at all. If all bird owners were aware of the dangers of having fully featherd winged birds, there would not be accidents where the bird takes off and never comes back. Sometimes people just don't know that they could do that to their birds, and sometimes people just get lazy and think just one or 2 flight feathers that has grown back is not enough to give the bird "liftoff" which is sad, because just one outgrown flight feather and the right wind conditions is enough to give a bird liftoff into the tree tops.

As for the temperature in your home...what do you keep the temp at? As long as it's not anywhere near drafts it should be able to handle temps around 66 to 67 deg. F. If the bird is from a very good breeder and has been raised on healthy foods, grains, veggies and pastas, vitamin supplements, it's imune system is going to be much greater then a bird who was raised on seed alone. That's another thing not many people know about birds, they should get a generous serving of as much of a variety of healthy stuff as you can fit into it's dish Seeds should be given in small dosages, if at all, and veggies, pellets, cooked rices of all types, fruits, homemade, preservite-free breads and other yummy stuff should be the main staple. As long as the diet is good and it's from a good breeding facility and it's not near drafts of any kind (not near windows or doors in the winter or not near vents blowing air conditioner in the summer it should be fine. If you are cold then the bird is probablly slightly more cold. I always moved my birds away from the window in the wintertime and closer to the heat vent. Then when summer came I moved them back so they could get natural light, and have something to look at while we were gone at work for the day.

Sorry to babble on. I have had parakeets as a kid growing up and I was totally unaware of the proper care of birds, so don't feel bad if you did not know this stuff. I worked at a pet store that specialized in fish (which I still know nothing about) and parrots. I learned alot.