Hi New Here GC Conure Diet help...

[crossru]

Hi
Im getting a gc conure soon, i read that a pellet diet is best for them but this is extremely inconvenient for me. I live in New Zealand and the only pellets I could find in the pet store is Kaytee. This is already really expensive for me as I am a student. It also seems that the price for these pellets are much more expensive when compared to other countries. New Zealand is very expensive.

I was wondering if I could instead feed him an all fresh food diet as it is cheaper and much more convenient. If I can what would be the diet plan for breakie, lunch and dinner?
And how much seeds should he be allowed a day?

I also have some old toys(2 months old only) (from a bird that i helped looked after for about 2 months) they are fabric and wood but if i disinfect them can they be used for my new conure? The bird was never sick and is still healthy and alive.
How would i disinfect these throughly?

Thanks alot ::angel-smi

 

[jenphilly]

Can you get Lafeber avi cakes or nutriberries? They are pellet based and our conures love them. They are a decent substitute if you cannot find a good pellet.

Another option is a great store we have closeby in New Jersey that ships internationally. Our green cheeks are on their organic / all natural diet and TOPS pellets and they went from pretty to absolutely brilliant colors. Their website is mybirdstore.com. We've been over to their actual store as well and they have about every imaginable toy or supply you could ever need. I would definitely suggest you take a look at their site.

Green cheeks should have very little seed, having a good pellet is a great foundation to their diet. If you are challenged to establish a really solid pellet, I would add bee pollen to their diet (even if you do, its a great natural addition they would benefit from in the wild).

Good luck and I hope that Bird Paradise might be able to help with shipping a proper diet over to you. As for toys... I reuse toy parts all the time in our home (take apart and toss what has been shredded. but reuse wood or plastic beads that are not chewed). I toss the parts into hot water and use a clean scrub sponge without soap to get off any droppings that don't soak off. Some people suggest a few drops of bleach in the water, but I usually just go with hot water. I clean their rope perches the same way and then just set them out to dry for a day or two.

You can also make your own toys, there are lots of sites with suggestions, or you can get toy parts from Bird Paradise too

Jen

 

[jenphilly]

Talk about an after thought!!! I was just cleaning cages and playstands and talking about where to store the toy parts that were just delivered, when it popped into my head to suggest you check out ebay! I did a quick search for australia's ebay site and found roudybush which is good pellet too! I am guessing amazon has a site for local shipping in Australia too, definitely check those out.

Another thought, have you found a good avian vet in your area. I know here in the states, most vets push Harrisons and usually sell them in their office too, so another thought on where to try! Bird clubs too... if other bird owners close to you need supplies, shipping in from another location might be more reasonable if several people go in on an order to get price breaks.

Just more thoughts for you!

 

[crossru]

Thanks for your really great info!! I was getting really excited until I remembered....oh wait your cant bring things like seeds (or anything that contains seeds) into New Zealand nooooooooooo!! Then i started getting excited about the toys and which ones to buy for him and then noooooo wood quarantine. I found a Harrison diet too but im not quite sure if these prices seem insane to you - Vets for Pets . Though im not sure the quantity meant to be feed a day either but is it meant to be this expensive ((((

I also threw in the toys and branches into hot water but i cant tell which parts he would have chewed (the bird i looked after was only a cockatiel so not a strong biter). The bad part was the water started turning blackish because the dye on the wood came off ughhhh and the glue sorta melted a little out. wat to do? sigh

 

[Kalidasa]

If you realistically can't feed pellets, then make sure you introduce a very widely varied diet of fresh organic greens, veggies, fruits, some nuts and seed. You could do a chop mix that is found in the diet section of this forum (hopefully someone chimes in with the link). If you go with seeds go for quality. Do your research about their dietary needs, as its crucial in having a healthy happy bird. conures shouldn't be on a highly pelleted diet anyway, they need lots of fresh produce and greens.