conure food and snacks?

Greetings all.

I adopted a sun conure, Beaker, who is about 1 yr old.

I have a question about his diet. When I adopted him they gave me some food in zip lock bags to get me started off. Here's all the info I have and was directions given to me.

Bag 1 is pellets...no name...which Beaker doesn't seem to want to eat much unless I spin his container and poke around in it to entice him to eat some.

Bag 2 is a seed mix...again no name...and heavy on the sunflower seeds, which thankfully, Beaker picks out and drops to the bottom of his cage. Someone mixed in what looks like little dry treats in all types of shapes like triangles, squares, etc that are multi colored. I am wondering if anyone might know that is and if it is healthy for him? The rest are tiny seeds which he doesn't each much, and pumpkin seeds which she seems to LOVE.

Bag 3 is a mix of much larger pellets almost oval shaped with some dry circular colored pellets mixed in which they tell me to add a table spoon of every other day. She seems to eat the colored pellets that are tiny but not the bigger ones.

I still can't get Beaker to eat any fruits or veggies that are fresh or any kind of left overs like plain pasta, lettuce, baby carrots, apple etc.

For a treat/snack I found a bag of Higgins Sunburst Fruits, Vegetables, and Seed treats meant for conures, parrots, and macaws. He LOVES the sun dried banana chips in the mix along with raisins, mango, and pumpkin seed. I found and bought this mix at a Petco that I pass on my way to and from home and work.

Does anyone know where I can find just a bag of sun dried bananas that are sugar free? Or is giving him sun dried bananas as a treat a bad idea?

I'm really scratching my head here with what types and brands of food are going to be best for him that will entice him to eat a healthy diet and how to get him to eat fresh fruits, veggies, leftovers, etc.

Any advice on brands, mixes, etc would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Bumping you back into daylight!
As for sugar free dried fruit, that is a tough one, unless you make your own! They use the sugar because it helps in the drying process. Also, since the dried bananas folks like to see are 'green' when dried, sugar is used to make them tasty!
A great source for mixed dried fruit and nuts, Costco! Very good price. Aso check the baking foods area for almonds, walnuts, pecans, and pine nuts. Best prices I have ever found! I store all of it in my freezer.

Here's my conure -two-cents...
I love Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first and current avian vet recommended it. My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry. He was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Harrison's site has a lot of resources. That 15-minutes thing can also apply to pellets (15 minutes) and fresh stuff (the rest of the day). It's one of the few battles I have ever won with the Rbird.
Harrison's Bird Foods

GaleriaGila said:

Here's my conure -two-cents...
I love Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first and current avian vet recommended it. My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry. He was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Harrison's site has a lot of resources. That 15-minutes thing can also apply to pellets (15 minutes) and fresh stuff (the rest of the day). It's one of the few battles I have ever won with the Rbird.
Harrison's Bird Foods

Click to expand...

That sounds like a good plan when it comes to introducing and switching over to a new brand/diet. Will definitely keep that in mind.

What are your thoughts on the brands of seed/pellets made by Kaytee, Vita Prima, or Zupreem? I found these at my local pet supply store I go get my dog and cat food from, pet supplies plus. These brands have and offer food targeted towards conures. Am looking to pick something up soon as I am running low on dry supplies for Beaker. I haven't see any pet stores around me sell Harrison's food.

Beaker is also still picky with his fruits and veggies. I've tried to give him some carrots I shredded up, lettuce, cucumber, with a bit of plain boiled ziti...he shows no interest in those types of fresh foods/treats. He still only likes his bagged sun dried fruit and veggie mix that I picked up from Petco. Don't know why he isn't exploring the dish at least...goes no where near it.

My apologies for just responding as well...was away on vacation and just got back yesterday.

I bought Harrison's pellets directly from their website. They have some advice on converting birds to pellets including to mix powdered pellets with the preferred current food, so the bird gets used to the taste of the pellets. I just realized this might work in reverse - if I coat fresh veggies with pellet dust ...

polk203ct said:

GaleriaGila said:

Here's my conure -two-cents...
I love Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first and current avian vet recommended it. My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry. He was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Harrison's site has a lot of resources. That 15-minutes thing can also apply to pellets (15 minutes) and fresh stuff (the rest of the day). It's one of the few battles I have ever won with the Rbird.
Harrison's Bird Foods

Click to expand...

That sounds like a good plan when it comes to introducing and switching over to a new brand/diet. Will definitely keep that in mind.

What are your thoughts on the brands of seed/pellets made by Kaytee, Vita Prima, or Zupreem? I found these at my local pet supply store I go get my dog and cat food from, pet supplies plus. These brands have and offer food targeted towards conures. Am looking to pick something up soon as I am running low on dry supplies for Beaker. I haven't see any pet stores around me sell Harrison's food.

Beaker is also still picky with his fruits and veggies. I've tried to give him some carrots I shredded up, lettuce, cucumber, with a bit of plain boiled ziti...he shows no interest in those types of fresh foods/treats. He still only likes his bagged sun dried fruit and veggie mix that I picked up from Petco. Don't know why he isn't exploring the dish at least...goes no where near it.

My apologies for just responding as well...was away on vacation and just got back yesterday.

Click to expand...

I can vouch for Zupreem Natural.

jiannotto9492 said:

polk203ct said:

GaleriaGila said:

Here's my conure -two-cents...
I love Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first and current avian vet recommended it. My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry. He was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Harrison's site has a lot of resources. That 15-minutes thing can also apply to pellets (15 minutes) and fresh stuff (the rest of the day). It's one of the few battles I have ever won with the Rbird.
Harrison's Bird Foods

Click to expand...

That sounds like a good plan when it comes to introducing and switching over to a new brand/diet. Will definitely keep that in mind.

What are your thoughts on the brands of seed/pellets made by Kaytee, Vita Prima, or Zupreem? I found these at my local pet supply store I go get my dog and cat food from, pet supplies plus. These brands have and offer food targeted towards conures. Am looking to pick something up soon as I am running low on dry supplies for Beaker. I haven't see any pet stores around me sell Harrison's food.

Beaker is also still picky with his fruits and veggies. I've tried to give him some carrots I shredded up, lettuce, cucumber, with a bit of plain boiled ziti...he shows no interest in those types of fresh foods/treats. He still only likes his bagged sun dried fruit and veggie mix that I picked up from Petco. Don't know why he isn't exploring the dish at least...goes no where near it.

My apologies for just responding as well...was away on vacation and just got back yesterday.

Click to expand...

I can vouch for Zupreem Natural.

Click to expand...

The Zupreem Natural brand seems a bit more appealing to me from a price point and I feel that it will be more visually appealing to Beaker as he always picks out all the colored items out of his food dishes first all the time when I feed him. I am going to be getting some today at Petco on my way home from work so I have enough food and time to switch him over to it.

Thank you for vouching for at least one of the brands I am interested in using.