Almonds, apple and grapes .... are they fattening ?

[WendyM]

My 5 month old GCC's favourite foods are apple, grapes and almonds (and ofcouse sunflower kernels, which I limit to two or three a day). He also eats lots of veggies and has seed and pellets available.

I use almonds slithers which I break into small bits for treats.

He loves his veggies (sweet potato, carrot, corn, peas, mung beans, sometimes beans, beetroot and zucchini) but won't eat any fresh fruit except apple and grapes, which I think are high in sugar. Ive tried banana, kiwi fruit and rockmelon, but he is not interested. He also likes sultanas, dried cranberries and dried pawpaw.

Im concerned that the fruit part of his diet and his almond treats might be fattening.

Thanks for your advise,

Wendy

 

[weco]

Sounds like he's doing OK & from the small amount of almonds you're describing, he's not going to be putting on too many extra Oz.s.....apples & grapes do have more natural sugars than other nutrients, but if those are served in moderation, you should be good there too.....

You might want to browse around the different posts about "chop mixes" and give one or more of those a try & see what happens.....be prepared to demonstrate eating new foods, because that's how a bird learns in the wild...watching parents, siblings & other flock members.....

Happy tasting.....

 

[MonicaMc]

Have you tried berries? Mango? Pomegranate? Oranges? Just might need to be creative! But it's not a big deal if he's not big on fruit!

 

[kellie]

Try mango! Besides that, honestly veggies are some of the best things for your little guy! haha It's funny because I hardly ever see posts about a conure loving veggies and not fruit... it's usually the other way around! I wish Lukah loved veggies more! I've had a lot of success with chop mixes so you could try mixing healthy fruits into those. I give Lukah an almond or two almost every day and he's fine. As long as they're on a pellet diet and you're not spoiling them, I think it's fine.

Here's a post about chop mix I made a while back http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/35887-lukah-s-new-chop-mix.html

Probably try to get some berries in his diet, and some mango. Those are both really good for them. Try blackberries- usually a bird favorite. Lukah won't touch raspberries and is not too big on strawberries. Also blueberries but in moderation- lots of sugar in those! And I give Lukah canteloupe which he loves. Also pomegranate seeds!

If he is active, don't worry TOO much about fattening. Just give him what's healthy (which it sounds like you're already doing). Fruit should be limited anyway because of the sugar content. Veggies are really where it's at. And pellets. And just save nuts for treats like you're doing!

 

[Crazyformybaby]

I think he will be fine as long as you give him everything in moderation....
one way that you could try to do is eat a lot of the fruit/s that you want him to eat infront of him so that he will want to see what all the fuss is with this food. worked on my friends 2 budgies so that could be worth giving a try. sorry if you have already done that

 

[stickyfeet]

We have the opposite issue, but it sounds like it's pretty normal for conures. Our two GCCs that we welcomed two months ago, LOVE fruit. I do a mix of spinach or baby bok choy, cut up sugar snap peas, put in a shredded broccoli mix and usually carrots, along with black and blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and grapes. They won't touch pomegranates, and we give them green apples for treats, which they step on each other's heads for. The thing is, they pick around all of the veggies, grab the fruit. They're really healthy eaters - on pellets, which they also love. I've tried cooking green beans, squash, nothing doing. So the search continues, trying to keep things interesting. I'll look up the chop mix for ideas - good luck with your little one!