How to improve my conures diet?

[marsvv]

Hi so I have a well I believe 1 year old conure, (we don’t know the exact age) and her diet is mostly just a mix of seeds and a bit of pellets. And I want to make sure I could give her a better diet. Using vegetables fruits etc. I really need help and any recommendations are fine!

 

[Maya The Ringneck]

when i used to feed conures i would give them a mix of fruits and veggies, made up of corn on the cob about an (inch thick piece), grapes, lettuces, blueberries, apple (on occasion), and strawberrys.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Bird STreet Bistro (available on Amazon) is what turned my seed junkies into mash eaters. A 500 gram package has lasted my 4 birds about a month and I'm STILL going through the bag. It's not cheap tho, up here in canada. $30! It's worth it tho!

 

[clark_conure]

We had a company potluck and I took some veggies home in a bag.....

THEY LOVE RED GRAPES

/drops mike

also apples and strawberries, they arwe in season now so you can get good deals.

 

[Maya The Ringneck]

We had a company potluck and I took some veggies home in a bag.....

THEY LOVE RED GRAPES

/drops mike

also apples and strawberries, they arwe in season now so you can get good deals.

Yeah they do love red grapes most of all, they like the juice from them

 

[marsvv]

We had a company potluck and I took some veggies home in a bag.....

THEY LOVE RED GRAPES

/drops mike

also apples and strawberries, they arwe in season now so you can get good deals.

Wait so, should I like give like a separate part of the fruits she might like and then a part of vegetables she likes daily?

 

[wrench13]

Fruits are typically accepted by a lot of parrots, however, fruits are SUGAR and that equals more energy for them. If they live a pretty sedentary life, like most parrots do, that energy can manifest as being nippy or even as barbering or plucking.
Fruits can be used as a treat or training food, but an everyday 'food' - well better then seeds but....

BTW some veggies, like corn, are sugar factories too! Green leafy veggies of wide variety, and those high in Vit A are much better for them. Hot peppers are really good for them and they often love them.

 

[Pafoof]

Fruits are typically accepted by a lot of parrots, however, fruits are SUGAR and that equals more energy for them. If they live a pretty sedentary life, like most parrots do, that energy can manifest as being nippy or even as barbering or plucking.
Fruits can be used as a treat or training food, but an everyday 'food' - well better then seeds but....

BTW some veggies, like corn, are sugar factories too! Green leafy veggies of wide variety, and those high in Vit A are much better for them. Hot peppers are really good for them and they often love them.

Very true!
Out of ignorance i was giving my little gcc mangoes,cherry,banana,apple….
After a short time i started noticing features plucking like crazy,we took him to vet and i was told to adjust his diet
I stopped all fruits and after 2-3 days he stopped feathers plucking
Pellets should be the main food for parrots
I also give him sone broccoli and carrots

 

[widor]

It is great that you try to to improve diet
Regarding vegetables mine loves carrots, broccoli, red peppers (peppers seeds are their favourite), celery, peas, pumpkin..etc and they usually get some "weeds", wild flowers from our garden -like dandelion, daisy, clover..
They get some fresh fruits also -for example they love berries but I try to stick to seasonal ones : like now it is melon season and they got quite a lot. but I will not buy watermelon or grapes out of season just for them as worried about all the chemicals might used on them.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Another option is sprouting seeds. How I do it is I place seeds in a bowl with a wet paper towel over top. I make sure to keep the paper towel wet, checking every day. In 2-3 days the seeds usually have started to sprout. My seed junkies LOVE them!

 

[CasaDeMouse]

Another option is sprouting seeds. How I do it is I place seeds in a bowl with a wet paper towel over top. I make sure to keep the paper towel wet, checking every day. In 2-3 days the seeds usually have started to sprout. My seed junkies LOVE them!

I was doing this before I got sick and can confirm: they LOVE seedlings as much as they like seeds. I imagine it's because they're wetter. I got a 4 pound bag of mixed lettuce seeds from Amazon and used about 1 tablespoon a day so I'm nowhere near finishing even a portion of that bag. I had them on a 4-day rotation using those grill pans from Dollar Tree over those cheap cookie sheets since I won't be heating them up. It helps keep the seeds drained and from molding if you skip a day or overwater on accident. I really need to get back into it.

 

[CasaDeMouse]

Very true!
Out of ignorance i was giving my little gcc mangoes,cherry,banana,apple….
After a short time i started noticing features plucking like crazy,we took him to vet and i was told to adjust his diet
I stopped all fruits and after 2-3 days he stopped feathers plucking
Pellets should be the main food for parrots
I also give him sone broccoli and carrots

I think it's okay to use very small pieces of them for training but you have to get them ready in advance or they'll focus more on that or get too big of bites.

My exception to this is sweet potato because it's the only consistent form of Vitamin A I can be sure they'll eat, so they get to share a slice every few days. When I was feeling better, I would cook them and freeze them in cubes (partially because these guys love eating all of their fruit and vegetables frozen, even in the winter) and they'd each have a cube a day. BUT my guys have an entire flight and enrichment room to themselves so they can keep themselves busy and do what they want to burn off the energy. Which is so important because, as you said, unexpended energy becomes destructive anxiety and they always turn inward

If I have a low energy/high pain day, I will give them frozen vegetables from the bag. But they won't eat the peas until they've dried out and they mostly only pick up the carrots to throw on the floor for the vacuum (the dog who comes in to check on them haha but she doesn't live in there-- she just likes to make sure they're doing okay). I try to buy fresh vegetables in a variety and freeze non-leafy ones so I can scoop out what they need but I'm still in recovery so still getting back into the habit so it's far from perfect.

I can definitely tell the difference between tricks I taught them with fruit and tricks I taught them with seeds lol. But they never let me forget if I forget their vegetables. If your guy is a frozen afficionado, I'd recommend the bulk method because you can also take advantage of sales especially for things like peppers (which, if you do sprouting, you can get a two-fer in terms of both cost and nutrition) or beets are very expensive in my area (BUT you can also throw those into some sterilized soil and let them keep growing the leaves for when you need some leafy goodness and be able to cook the root whenever you want).

If you grow your leafy greens in a container that doesn't give your birds access to the water part, in well- draining soil, and the soil is covered either with sterilized coconut coif or rocks, you can also keep those somewhere in the house with light exposure for your birds to munch on. Many of them can be quite pretty if you're into decorating but, also, it makes sure you don't have to plan every few days ahead (since most of the nutrition will be sapped after a few days if you, like 90% of the US, don't have access to locally-grown produce). And if they keep growing, they'll also seed which your birds can eat like that, you can sprout for them to eat, or grow for them. I recommend using a long windowsill container for them because you can either use it as a decorative runner on a table or put it in a window sill they can watch outside of while munching.

I know it all sounds like a lot of work but it's just the set up and the time savings later on pay out massively. And in terms of leafy greens, I definitely have an easier time getting them to eat those when it can double as an enrichment activity (shredding) or chilling (mine like to watch around outside, even when their birdie friends aren't eating in the feeder on the other side of the window). Plus, I like when I can save money in case there's an emergency for them.

I need to get back in that room and get everything set up again. A lot of the plants died feom not being watered or got mowed to decimation while I was in the hospital. The nice thing is, though, once the system is set up again it'll be back to being low-maintenance and lower maintenance for when I go back to work. It only works, though, because my guys like this stuff. Everyone's mileage will vary, though, because not every bird like the same things. But leafy greens are almost always the things we struggle with getting into our guys