Conure is a term used to define a group of birds hailing from America, and these birds are often small to medium in size. If you are planning to adopt one of these birds as a pet, then you need to have complete knowledge about their diet. Their diet should be similar to their wildlife diet. Unfortunately, we can never recreate the exact diet as they have access to in their wild environment. However, we can provide you the best food for conures that will provide them a proper balance of proteins, fat, carbohydrates, water, minerals, and vitamins.
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Conure Diet and Nutrition
It is essential to know about the ingredients used in your conure food before buying them. Every bird requires a proper balance of vital proteins, fat, carbohydrates, water, minerals, and vitamins in its diet to thrive. Conures do not require any specific diet, but you need to know what they are allergic to or the food that is toxic for them. The biggest mistake people make is that they feed their pet the diet primarily made up using seeds. Seeds are something that you could feed them as a treat that too occasionally, but their diet should not solely rely on them.
Some of the Best Food for Conures
You must make ensure that your conure’s diet is made up of pellets that are specifically formulated to give balanced nutrients to your pet. There should be approximately 70%-80% of diet coming from the pellets and the remaining 30% from fruits and veggies.
Pellets
Pellet diets are specifically made to provide special nutritional needs a conure would require in its diet. They are formulated for each conure’s life stage; that is, from their early age till breeding, along with their specific health issues. Pellets are considered as the best nutritionally-balanced diet for each conure, and you can provide a pellet diet to the seed-eating birds as well. This diet is also available in different shapes, flavors, and colors, so there is a lot to choose from.
Fruits and Vegetables
The pellet diet consists of a large portion of a conure’s diet; the rest can be easily made up of fresh fruits and vegetables. The fruits that have more water content don’t provide much nutrition as compared to the other fruits. Make sure to remove the seeds from certain fruits like cherries and apples. Some of the fruits and vegetables that are healthy for your conure may include:
- Apples
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Oranges
- Melon
- Watermelon
- Pears
- Sweet corn
- Bananas
- Blueberries
- Cauliflower
- Lettuce
- Plums
- Peaches
- Apricots
- Peas
- Coconut
- Peppers
- Pineapple
- Chickpeas
- Pomegranate
- Dates
- Beans (cooked)
- Dandelion leaves
- Lentils
- Pumpkin
- Grapes
- Raspberry
- Grapefruit
- Rice (brown)
- Kiwi
- Spinach
- Mango
- Strawberry
- Cabbage
- Brussel sprouts
- Sweet potatoes
- Papaya
- Tomatoes
- Zucchini
Before giving your conure the above food items, make sure you cut them into small bite-sized pieces as it gets easier for your pet to eat. Make sure that the food items that are left or uneaten by your conure should be removed daily from their cage.
In addition to the healthy food items, there are many food items that are toxic to your conure’s health:
- Chocolate
- Sweets
- Avocado
- Rhubarb
- Alcohol
- Cassava (tapioca)
- Meat
- Peanuts
- Dairy products
- Fruit seeds and pits
Seeds
In the wild habitats, if a conure finds any seed and eats them, it would be very rare as they are not used to eat seeds. Sadly, many companies offer foods entirely made up of seeds. If your pet consumes this seed food diet, it would be harmful and could face serious health issues like obesity, as seeds consist of high-fat content. Seeds could be defined as junk food for birds. Some companies even state that their food does not contain sunflower seeds as they can lead to serious health issues for conures. The vet advises the bird caretakers to feed their pet seeds just as a treat and stick to their regular pellet diet along with fresh fruits and vegetables.
Fresh Water
You must always change the water every day for your pet, especially in the summers, as the water could build up bacteria. Try to keep the water tray at some higher level in the cage as it would not easily catch dirt, or try adding a water dispenser or bottle.
Switching From a Seed-based Diet to a Pellet Diet
If your pet has been on a seed diet for a long time and now you want to switch its diet to a pellet diet, then you might face a few problems. Birds are quite picky when it comes to food, so if you think you would be able to switch up their diet easily, then you are wrong. They might even refuse to eat the new pellet diet and would want to stick to their old diet. You can gradually mix up their existing seed diet with pellet diet over time, say 4-6 weeks. You can start by adding a small ratio of pellet diet to their regular food until the entire diet is the new pellet diet.
Feeding Guidelines for Your Conure
Keep a close eye on your conure pet eating habits, and notice if they leave behind any food. Even if they stop eating some specific item, note it down and discuss it with your vet, as it may indicate some serious health problem. Do not panic or force if your conure does not like or eat any fruit or vegetable that your feed; it doesn’t mean that it will never eat it in the future. Just stop feeding them that specific food item and reintroduce it after some time, and this time your conure is more likely to eat it.
What is the Best Food for Conures?
These were the food items that we would like to suggest to feed to your conure pet. There could be a lot more, but it is best to discuss things with your vet before changing anything in your pet’s diet. Let us know what you like to feed to your conure. We would love to include your suggestions in our list.
