What size heater for quail hutch?

[Jen88]

Hi
My 5 pet Japanese quails live out in a hutch in our backgarden and with all this cold weather I've decided to get them a ceramic heater to help keep them warm and stop their water freezing.
Only problem is I don't know what waltage to get

The hutch is 5ft long by 2 ft deep and 2ft high, and I was thinking of putting the bulb in the corner of the hutch that has the wire front (theres about 3ft with a wire front and 2ft with a wooden front) as this will be nearest to the water bottle.

How do I find out how hot the bulb will make the hutch? And the area directly below it? I don't want it too hot, just above the freezing temps that we've been getting really!
I was thinking of attaching it to a dimmer switch so I can control the temps a bit, would that work?
Oh and I am going to get a guard for it

Sorry for all the questions!
And I hope I've posted this in the right section!

Thanks
Jen

[glennskow]

hi jen my quail are ok in the winter .its the draft that kills mostly . i use plywood cut to size ( taking it the hutch is only open at the front ) cut so it fits inside the door frame ,make it a snug fit with a well placed cut out for the water bottle , i also have a sheet of plastic stapled to the hutch frame at the top so i can roll it down if its really cold ,the bottom edge stapled to a piece of 2x1 full width of the cage so the win doesnt lift the plastic , sorry for going on hope this helps in some way .. glenn

[Shell195]

We bring all our sanctuary quails indoors for the winter