First Sun Conures

[Brian0608]

Hello all, I’m getting a new Sun Conure next week. I bought him a big aviary for a cage so he’ll have plenty of room to exercise and be happy. I wanted to get everything ready for him before so I’m not fumbling around his cage during the first few days he’s getting adjusted. So this is my first conure and I’m wondering a few things...

What Full Spectrum Light should I get for him, ratings included; if they are even worth getting...

He is 5 months old, hand fed and now on a pellet diet I believe the guy said; what is the best food to give him right now, like name and mix brand...

When should and how do I switch him from a “baby” diet to a full blown sun conure diet? And which brand and mix should I feed him then? Also, should I get a few mixes and give it to him; As well as how often should he have veggies, and fruit? As well as treats...


Thank you so much everyone for reading and I hope I get a good bit of solid answers. Please fire away! I believe you can never learn too much or get enough solid advise!

 

[Jen5200]

Congratulations, sun conures are awesome! I might be biased....

My personal inclination would be to continue to feed him what he is used to while he gets settled in and comfortable with you. The breeder should be able to share that info with you. Too many changes at once can be tough for them (my opinion). Give him some time to settle in, and then you can start transitioning him to a diet that you’d like him to be on.

There’s lots of great pellets out there - and you may have to try a few before you settle on what he likes and you feel is good for him. Where you are located may affect recommendations for brands - what’s available is not the same all over the globe . I feed TOPs, Zupreem natural, Lefaber and Zupreem fruit blend (I have a few conures lol). My conures eat “chop” 2x per day (a mix of whole grains, veggies and a wee bit of fruit). I tend to feed about a teaspoon per bird per sitting, and toss it out after an hour or two (fresh goods do collect bacteria). I tend to keep treats to small amounts, it’s easy to over-indulge them when they’re so darned cute. Sometimes I use tiny pieces of nut, pieces of sunflower seed, chopped bits of freeze-dried veggies/fruit, bits of apple, pine nuts, seeds....and the list goes on. Anything that they enjoy that isn’t part of their regular food bowl becomes a treat (and I do try to keep these to healthy-ish items).

Looking forward to seeing pics of your new addition!

 

[Owlet]

Nice big cage. Fill it with as many different perches as you can. Natural wood perches (discluding dowel perches) are the best. With all the knots and twist and turns they provide a lot of variation for the bird to have healthy feet. I suggest avoiding rope/cotton perches and toys with a conure as they tend to be more prone to digesting it and getting crop impaction among other things. As many toys as you can! Wood, paper / shredding toys, maybe some plastic/acrylic.

Harness train your baby IMMEDIATELY. It's a lot easier to train them when they're younger. Aviator harnesses are the best and safest variety. Plus they come with an instructional video.

Be sure to get rid of any Teflon, ptfe, etc products too. Anything that releases a fume is bad and can kill. Candles, incense, wax melts, vapes, aerosol, etc are a no. If you have a problem with bad smells, ive found some people just heat up orange peels and other natural safe things to freshen the air a little. Note: Heat up NOT burn.

 

[Brian0608]

Congratulations, sun conures are awesome! I might be biased....

My personal inclination would be to continue to feed him what he is used to while he gets settled in and comfortable with you. The breeder should be able to share that info with you. Too many changes at once can be tough for them (my opinion). Give him some time to settle in, and then you can start transitioning him to a diet that you’d like him to be on.

There’s lots of great pellets out there - and you may have to try a few before you settle on what he likes and you feel is good for him. Where you are located may affect recommendations for brands - what’s available is not the same all over the globe . I feed TOPs, Zupreem natural, Lefaber and Zupreem fruit blend (I have a few conures lol). My conures eat “chop” 2x per day (a mix of whole grains, veggies and a wee bit of fruit). I tend to feed about a teaspoon per bird per sitting, and toss it out after an hour or two (fresh goods do collect bacteria). I tend to keep treats to small amounts, it’s easy to over-indulge them when they’re so darned cute. Sometimes I use tiny pieces of nut, pieces of sunflower seed, chopped bits of freeze-dried veggies/fruit, bits of apple, pine nuts, seeds....and the list goes on. Anything that they enjoy that isn’t part of their regular food bowl becomes a treat (and I do try to keep these to healthy-ish items).

Looking forward to seeing pics of your new addition!

Thanks a bunch! So don’t leave bowls full of food all day? Just feed him twice a day? And the rest of the day, just leave some foraging for him to do? I’ll upload some when I pick him up. I may get a male and female, who knows... I would rather him have a companion; I’d love to have a really strong bond with him but I’d rather him have one of his own kind and maybe give us some more eventually.

 

[Brian0608]

Nice big cage. Fill it with as many different perches as you can. Natural wood perches (discluding dowel perches) are the best. With all the knots and twist and turns they provide a lot of variation for the bird to have healthy feet. I suggest avoiding rope/cotton perches and toys with a conure as they tend to be more prone to digesting it and getting crop impaction among other things. As many toys as you can! Wood, paper / shredding toys, maybe some plastic/acrylic.

Harness train your baby IMMEDIATELY. It's a lot easier to train them when they're younger. Aviator harnesses are the best and safest variety. Plus they come with an instructional video.

Be sure to get rid of any Teflon, ptfe, etc products too. Anything that releases a fume is bad and can kill. Candles, incense, wax melts, vapes, aerosol, etc are a no. If you have a problem with bad smells, ive found some people just heat up orange peels and other natural safe things to freshen the air a little. Note: Heat up NOT burn.

Okay, great info! So let him settle in a few days and then get him started with a harness? Also, does brand matter when it comes to harnesses? Or is one just as good and easy to use as the other?

 

[Owlet]

Aviator harnesses are the best because they're one solid piece and you don't have to worry about clasps possibly coming undone. Other harnesses do work though. But yes let your bird settle in first.

https://theparrotuniversity.com/content/aviator-bird-harness

you would want the x small

 

[Jen5200]

Congratulations, sun conures are awesome! I might be biased....

My personal inclination would be to continue to feed him what he is used to while he gets settled in and comfortable with you. The breeder should be able to share that info with you. Too many changes at once can be tough for them (my opinion). Give him some time to settle in, and then you can start transitioning him to a diet that you’d like him to be on.

There’s lots of great pellets out there - and you may have to try a few before you settle on what he likes and you feel is good for him. Where you are located may affect recommendations for brands - what’s available is not the same all over the globe . I feed TOPs, Zupreem natural, Lefaber and Zupreem fruit blend (I have a few conures lol). My conures eat “chop” 2x per day (a mix of whole grains, veggies and a wee bit of fruit). I tend to feed about a teaspoon per bird per sitting, and toss it out after an hour or two (fresh goods do collect bacteria). I tend to keep treats to small amounts, it’s easy to over-indulge them when they’re so darned cute. Sometimes I use tiny pieces of nut, pieces of sunflower seed, chopped bits of freeze-dried veggies/fruit, bits of apple, pine nuts, seeds....and the list goes on. Anything that they enjoy that isn’t part of their regular food bowl becomes a treat (and I do try to keep these to healthy-ish items).

Looking forward to seeing pics of your new addition!

Thanks a bunch! So don’t leave bowls full of food all day? Just feed him twice a day? And the rest of the day, just leave some foraging for him to do? I’ll upload some when I pick him up. I may get a male and female, who knows... I would rather him have a companion; I’d love to have a really strong bond with him but I’d rather him have one of his own kind and maybe give us some more eventually.

I leave pellets out all day, and feed fresh 2x per day. I like them to be able to graze all day

 

[EllenD]

He's already on his "adult" diet if he's weaned, which he would be at 5 months for sure. The "baby" diet is simply hand-feeding formula, and they are actually weaned onto their "adult" diet. I agree that whatever brand/type of pellets the breeder is feeding him is what you need to buy at first, and maybe it's fine and you keep feeding it, maybe it's not and you then decide what pellets you want to feed him and you start mixing them into the ones that he's currently eating, and slowly switch him over. If he's currently eating a "Natural" flavored pellet, meaning one that is NOT a "fruit" flavored pellet, then chances are that it's a good pellet and it's fine to keep feeding him...You do not want him to be eating a fruit-flavored pellet, as they are full of sugar, which turns into fat, which causes Fatty Liver Disease, Diabetes, etc. just like a junk-seed diet does. So it's just going to depend on what pellets his breeder weaned him onto, though it's great that he actually weaned him onto pellets in the first place, because it's a lot easier to switch him from a fruit-flavored pellet to a "Natural" pellet than it is switching him from a junk-seed mix to pellets.

There are a lot of great "natural" flavored pellets out there, and it pretty-much comes down to which one your individual bird will like. Like I said, if he's already eating a decent, natural-flavored pellet then you're really lucky and no reason to change anything...The most-commonly fed natural-flavored pellets by experienced parrot owners that provide them a well-rounded, varied, nutritional "staple" diet are Harrison's, Tops, Mazuri, Zupreem Natural, LaFaber Pelletberries, Tropican, among others (those are the most popular, common ones). So if he's currently eating any of those he's in good shape. I'd call his breeder ahead of time to find out; most of these are available at the major pet stores like Petco, only the Harrison's and the Tops are a bit harder to find in stores and are actually much cheaper if you order them online anyway (some smaller, non-chain pet shops and Avian Vet offices do sell Harrison's and Tops as well, but you'll pay a lot more than you will if you order them)...

So the pellets are going to be his regular, daily "staple" diet, meaning the main-component of his diet, and he should have a bowl of pellets available to him all day long, every day so he always has his healthy, "staple" diet available to him, along with fresh, clean water. Now you may or may not want to also feed him a small bowl (I feed 1/4 cup per day) of a healthy, varied, low-fat seed-mix that does not contain ANY sunflower seeds, no nuts/peanuts, and no corn. Some people do, some people don't. I do simply because pellets do not exist in nature, and it's a fact that the anatomy and physiology of a bird is designed to shell, swallow, process, and digest seeds, grains, and legumes, specifically their GI Tract (crop, gizzard, stomach). I also believe that eating seeds on a daily basis is good for the bird psychologically, as it is what they innately eat in the wild. This is a topic of controversy, but usually the source of the controversy comes from the fact that people often choose crappy, junky, high-fat seed mixes and that is the bird's "staple" diet. If you feed a healthy, varied, low-fat seed-mix in a very small quantity each day it actually does benefit the bird physically and mentally, as long as it's only a supplement to the "staple" diet of pellets. There are quite a few very healthy and varied seed-mixes out there, including Tops, Zupreem Sensible Seed, Tropimix, Higgins California Blend, and many others that again contain no sunflower seeds (preferably no safflower seeds either), no nuts of any kind, and no corn. So that's a choice that you have to make.

As far as fresh veggies and dark, leafy greens, he should get a portion of them every single day, and you can basically choose any fresh veggies and dark, leafy greens except for onions and any other veggies in the onion family, such as leeks, as they are toxic to birds. So every other veggie, as long as it's fresh and not ever canned (frozen isn't horrible, but fresh is obviously best) is fine, it's a matter of finding what your individual bird likes...Green Beans, Peas/Pea Pods, all types of Peppers, especially the Bell Peppers, Broccoli, all types of Squash, Okra, Cauliflower, Carrots, Eggplant, basically all veggies besides the Onion family. A "Chop" is a mix of many different fresh veggies, fruits, and/or grains in different combinations that birds just love. There are a ton of great "Chop" recipes in the Food/Diet forum here. I usually feed my guys their fresh veggies/Chop when I'm eating my own dinner, or if it's a day when I'm home all day I feed them veggies/Chop at both lunch and dinner. So they get their natural-pellets first thing in the morning and then have them in their bowl all day long, then I also give them their little 1/4 cup of healthy seed-mix for breakfast, then they get fresh veggies/Chop when I eat my meals, at least once a day, usually twice.

****It's important to note that fresh Fruit should NOT be fed in the same way that fresh Veggies and dark, leafy Greens are, because Fruit is loaded with all kinds of sugar. A lot of people put fresh Veggies and fresh Fruit in the same dietary category, and then they feed their birds lots of fresh Fruit every day too, and this is not good. Again, just like the fruit-flavored pellets, all Fruit is loaded with sugar, and that sugar gets converted into fat that is stored in their liver, and causes Fatty Liver Disease, Diabetes, among other serious health issues. So I don't really consider fresh Fruit a "treat" per se, but I only give them some fresh Fruit with their fresh veggies/Chop at dinner time, but they only get it maybe 2-3 times a week (again, always fresh, never canned)...You can feed most-all fresh Fruit, except for Avocados, which are toxic to birds, and all Citrus Fruits, as Citric Acid enhances their absorption of Iron from their diet, and birds cannot handle much Iron at all, and they will develop a life-threatening condition called "Iron Storage Syndrome". So it's best to avoid all Citrus Fruits, including Oranges, Grapefruit, Lemons, Limes, etc. All other fresh fruit is fine, such as apples, bananas, pears, kiwis, mango, guava, starfruit, passion fruit, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc.

As far as "treats" go, this is a broad category and should include both commercially-bought bird treats, AND people-food. Most birds absolutely love Sunflower Seeds, and since you won't be feeding them to him in his regular, daily diet, Sunflower Seeds make a great "training treat", as do all nuts. Sun Conures have a large enough beak to crack some in-shell nuts, such as Almonds, so they also make a great training-treat (cut them into slivers if using them as a "training treat", as these treats need to be able to be eaten quickly). Other nuts such as Brazil Nuts, Filberts, Hazelnuts, Walnuts, Pistachios, etc. are all good occasional treat. Try to avoid feeding him many, if any Peanuts, as they are extremely fatty; if you do feed him the occasional Peanut as a treat, make sure that it is NOT in the shell, as whole-Peanuts in the shell often contain a type of mold that is deadly to birds. Also, most birds love foods such as plain Oatmeal, plain Grits, etc. So on weekends my guys get plain Oatmeal for breakfast instead of their healthy seed-mix. They love it. And of course your bird is going to ALWAYS want whatever you are eating. People-food should be considered a "treat" and be fed in very small quantities. Try not to feed your bird any dairy products, or at least in very small moderation, such as cheese, as they cannot properly digest lactose and it can make them sick. They love cheese, and I give my guys a small bit when I'm eating it, but that's it. And make sure that anything you feed your bird is totally unsalted, and does not have any butter on it!!!

 

[EllenD]

Oh...the "full-spectrum light" question...Don't. It's as easy as that. Just don't. It's totally unnecessary, as birds do not require any extra UVB light in-order to aid their absorption of nutrition, and basically the answer to this question is as long as you are feeding your bird a healthy, well-rounded diet with a natural pellet as the daily staple, then he doesn't need any extra, artificial lighting at all...In addition, usually these lights cause more problems than anything else, some of which can be harmful to their health, and even life-threatening. There are so many different types of bulbs (compact, coil/spiral, tube, LED, etc.), so many different UVB output levels (2.0, 3.0, 5.0, 10.0, etc.), and so many different strengths of UVB output (T5, T8, etc.), along with the fact that certain types of bulbs, such as ALL coil/sprial bulbs, emit extremely harmful light rays as a by-product of their manufacturing process and that can result in everything from eye damage, permenant blindness, skin damage, basal cell and/or squamous cell skin cancer, melanoma, etc., that you're playing with fire for little to no benefit for your bird at all in the first place...

****Also, you never want to do anything to encourage or actually cause/increase hormonal-behavior in your bird. At 5-months old you're going to be dealing with puberty shortly (usually begins around 1-year of age, give or take a month or two), and one of the main things that encourages/increases hormonal-behavior is extending your bird's daylight, so often people put them under an artificial light, and they leave it on past sunset, thus increasing their days and taking them way-off of a "Natural Light Schedule", and this will only end in unwanted behavior that can be anything from constant masterbation (usually on you and then everything else possible) to very aggressive, violent behavior (especially in males), to chronic nesting and egg-laying in females. And Conures in-general, being the little "Velcro Birds" that they are, tend to become very hormonal anyway. So you don't need to do anything at all to make it any worse, trust me...I didn't catch what gender your Sun is, or whether you know or not for sure (DNA-test required for Sun conures), but either way they are extremely clingy, needy, and can become extremely hormonal.

****While you need to fill that huge aviary up with tons of different types of toys and foraging activities, what you don't want to put inside it are ANY types of "Huts" or little houses that they can get inside of (warm, dark, small places cause extreme hormonal behavior, especially in Conures), so nothing that your bird can "get inside" or under, such as a blanket or any material, and no "nesting" materials such as any type of bedding, wood chips, straw, etc.

****You mentioned the possibility of bringing home a second bird in the future, possibly one of the opposite sex...Something extremely important for you to know is that you have absolutely no way of knowing how any two birds are going to react to each other,
whether they will even like each other (let along bond with each other), and unfortunately there is no way of finding this out until you put two birds together and see...So the general rule-of-thumb is "Never buy a second bird for your first bird, ONLY ever buy another bird because YOU want another bird, and be totally prepared prior to bringing another bird home with it's own cage, toys, food, it's own complete set-up, and be prepared to not even be able to have them out in the same room together. Birds form relationships/bonds with each other very much the same way that humans do, meaning that they meet them, they form their opinions, and they either get along or they don't. And there are many different levels of relationships within those two categories...They may absolutely love each other, bond-closely with each other, and if of the opposite sex mate/breed; They may love each other and be best of friends, but not want to mate/breed with each other if of the opposite sex; They may like each other and like to spend time together, but not all the time, and not closely; They may tolerate each other and even be somewhat friendly, but have to each be housed in their own cage and have their own "territory" and possessions/toys; They may not like each other, have to be housed separately in their own cages, but be able to be out together but won't play together; They may dislike each other and want nothing to do with each other at all and never interact; They may hate each other and become violent/aggressive occasionally and have to be supervised when out together; They may want to kill each other and not be able to even be out together at all, even when supervised...You just have no way of knowing. So never buy your bird a "friend", as they don't need a "friend" as long as you are their "friend/flockmate".

***And that brings-up the other problem that often occurs when people bring home a second bird as a "friend" for their current bird...I'm assuming that you're bringing home this bird and adding him to your family because YOU want to be his "flock", you want him to bond with you, and you're going to commit to letting him at least 4-5 hours a day out of his cage and being with you. And that's what most people want when they bring home a bird. However, a mistake that a lot of people make is that they decide that it might be nice for their bird to have a friend (specifically a friend of the same species), so they go out and buy another bird of the same species (gender doesn't necessarily matter, though if of the opposite sex this becomes even more extreme and creates a host of other issues too), and what ends-up happening is that the two birds bond so closely that neither of them want anything at all to do with you anymore; even a bird that you've had for years and been bonded extremely close with usually will prefer to have that type of close-bond with someone of their own species rather than with a human. So a lot of people end-up being just devastated because all of a sudden there sweet, loving, cuddly little friend, "child" even in a lot of cases, who they spent all of their time with for years, all of a sudden they want nothing at all to do with them because they now have that type of bond with another bird, sometimes to the point that they become aggressive/violent with you and you are no-longer even able to handle them...And this can be absolutely devastating for you. This is exactly why "breeding-pairs" of birds are typically not "pets", and are sold as being "breeding-pairs", because they really want nothing at all to do with people...Now it does seem to help if you bring home a bird of a totally different species, for whatever reason. For example, I first brought home baby female Quaker Parrot, had her for a year and bonded very closely with her, then a year later I brought home a baby male Green Cheek Conure, who I also bonded very, very closely with...And the two of them are actually quite close, they snuggle together and preen each other whenever they are both out together, which is all the time, every day, but they still both are bonded closest with me. And my Senegal Parrot is only bonded to me and doesn't like anyone else, and the same went for my Cockatiel, until I brought home a young, male Ringneck Dove who's apparently a "playa", lol...little jerk...but that's another, very weird story...So you just never know, and have to be prepared for any outcome...Bottom-line is that your bird doesn't ever need a "friend" or a "flockmate" as long as YOU are their friend and flockmate.

 

[Brian0608]

Thank you so much EllenD! That’s a ton of advice, and solid too! I’ll keep you all posted on what all happens!

 

[EllenD]

Best advice that I forgot to give you is to love him to death and spoil him rotten!!!