Green Cheek Conure questions

[Echo]

You are welcome Cleo. And trust me, a well fed, busy Conure is a happy Conure which is the key for a happy human!

 

[raleej337]

Pellets are actually from seeds plus vitamins and other healthy ingredients put together for an easy and not too messy food. It is not realy putting seeds away from the birds diet. It is true that variety is the most healthy way feeding our fids. It is still reccomended that you feed your bird fruits, vegies, some fresh seeds, sprouted seeds and some cooked bird friendly foods as part of their pelleted diet.

 

[amysaviary]

Thanks for the pic. U have a Yellowsided Green Cheek Conure!

 

[lene1949]

Amy is right... It's a yellow sided...

I would take all the sunflower seeds out of the seedmix, and use them for training...

 

[Cleo]

Amy is right... It's a yellow sided...

I would take all the sunflower seeds out of the seedmix, and use them for training...

I have actually been doing that this morning.
Thank you Lene And Amy for letting me know what color she was. I have also been looking it up. I was figuring thats what she was but it is nice to have another's opinion that knows way more than I do about them. Thank you all!!

 

[Nakiska]

You have gorgeous baby there! I have one too, Franklin...you can see pictures of him in my profile albums.

Anyway when it comes to feeding our little guy he get's absolutely 'everything'. I am not a total pellet converter for several reasons. But my main reason is that when I see the joy our Franklin has eating and foraging through all different sizes, shapes and textures of food...how could I make him eat only boring pellets?

Franklin gets "Healthy Selects" seed mix, daily fruits and veggies. Franklin didn't like blueberries at all, nor raspberries, won't touch strawberries and hates fresh banana...but he LOVES banana chips, apple slices, grapes (I slice them in half) a little bit of orange (but it's not a total favorite either) cooked rice, any type of potato, but sweet potato is very healthy, cooked pasta (all plain of course), butternut squash all smashed up, steamed brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots (both cooked or raw...raw he likes them sliced very thin) Raw corn on the cob is another favorite, I just slice a disk off the cob and stuff it between the cage bars.

He won't eat pellets dry...won't touch em...but I just soak them in a little bit of water, they swell up and I give them to him and he'll eat some. I only soak about a teaspoon or so at a time.

One of the petstores I frequent sells a bulk mix of parrot fruit and nut treat mix, Franklin likes to pick through it. And occasionally I give him a sprig of Millet he loves to devour. Oh and he loves, loves LOVES air popped popcorn!

Do I cook for my birds specifically every day? Nope, but I cook for ourselves every day and what ever veggie, rice or pasta we have, I cook and hold some aside before seasoning.

Oh and egg...he loves cooked eggs, hard boiled, scrambled, fried. He also likes cooked chicken.

The first things I offered Franklin when we got him was apple slices and grapes. Make sure you never give them the seed/pit of the fruit and no apple peels either. No avacado, absolutely NO chocolate, infact keep processed sugars/foods at bay...meaning cookies, chips, cakes, candies, pop/soda, alcohol and salt...of course they want these things, but they are all "no-no's"

Try eating foods you know your bird can have and eat with him...he'll get curious and want to try new things and before you know it...you'll have to guard your food because well...at least with Franklin...he has the mentality that if it's his it's his and if it's yours...it's his!

Good Luck and congratulations! I love our conure more than words can say. He's been a true blessing in our home...a challenging one...no doubt...but TOTALLY worth it!

Toni

 

[solobaby]

adorable little bird , my birds get seeds and pellets and fresh food every day and they are very happy and healthy

 

[KatherineI]

I'm a 100% Pellet conformer. My birds are both on 100% pelleted diets, with lots of fresh foods daily, along with a bird muffin about twice a week. I use seeds as foraging treats, in foraging toys I make myself and hang in their cages, so they still get them, but it's not a staple of their diet. My Avian Vet is 100% happy with this.

 

[aliray]

congrats on your new baby. he is beautiful. I have a quaker parrot and I also feed a higgins conure mix of seeds fruit and veg. He wont eat pellets plain but I have zupreem pellets that I bake into his birdy bread. He also gets fresh fruit. apples pineapple cantalope watermelon grapes mango peach cherry and whatever else I can find . He also likes pasta cooked plain Brown rice cooked whole grain cereal. bits of cooked shrimp cooked chicken cooked very lean grnd beef. cooked oatmeal and most kinds of vegetables some raw and some cooked depending. have fun your going to love having a new best friend. Alison and sweetie pie

 

[Cleo]

You have gorgeous baby there! I have one too, Franklin...you can see pictures of him in my profile albums.

Anyway when it comes to feeding our little guy he get's absolutely 'everything'. I am not a total pellet converter for several reasons. But my main reason is that when I see the joy our Franklin has eating and foraging through all different sizes, shapes and textures of food...how could I make him eat only boring pellets?

Franklin gets "Healthy Selects" seed mix, daily fruits and veggies. Franklin didn't like blueberries at all, nor raspberries, won't touch strawberries and hates fresh banana...but he LOVES banana chips, apple slices, grapes (I slice them in half) a little bit of orange (but it's not a total favorite either) cooked rice, any type of potato, but sweet potato is very healthy, cooked pasta (all plain of course), butternut squash all smashed up, steamed brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots (both cooked or raw...raw he likes them sliced very thin) Raw corn on the cob is another favorite, I just slice a disk off the cob and stuff it between the cage bars.

He won't eat pellets dry...won't touch em...but I just soak them in a little bit of water, they swell up and I give them to him and he'll eat some. I only soak about a teaspoon or so at a time.

One of the petstores I frequent sells a bulk mix of parrot fruit and nut treat mix, Franklin likes to pick through it. And occasionally I give him a sprig of Millet he loves to devour. Oh and he loves, loves LOVES air popped popcorn!

Do I cook for my birds specifically every day? Nope, but I cook for ourselves every day and what ever veggie, rice or pasta we have, I cook and hold some aside before seasoning.

Oh and egg...he loves cooked eggs, hard boiled, scrambled, fried. He also likes cooked chicken.

The first things I offered Franklin when we got him was apple slices and grapes. Make sure you never give them the seed/pit of the fruit and no apple peels either. No avacado, absolutely NO chocolate, infact keep processed sugars/foods at bay...meaning cookies, chips, cakes, candies, pop/soda, alcohol and salt...of course they want these things, but they are all "no-no's"

Try eating foods you know your bird can have and eat with him...he'll get curious and want to try new things and before you know it...you'll have to guard your food because well...at least with Franklin...he has the mentality that if it's his it's his and if it's yours...it's his!

Good Luck and congratulations! I love our conure more than words can say. He's been a true blessing in our home...a challenging one...no doubt...but TOTALLY worth it!

Toni

Thank you for sharing so much info!!! All of your babies are beautiful. I love the artwork and horses too. My mom has two pretty horses. Cleo is our only pet because my boyfriend doesn't like many animals. No cats no dogs, but when he saw me and Cleo bonding at the store, he had to get her for me for mother's day. Now he loves her and has talked about getting another one later down the road when we feel like we got the hang of being bird owners. Thanks so much!!!

 

[Cleo]

adorable little bird , my birds get seeds and pellets and fresh food every day and they are very happy and healthy

Thank you. I believe that is what I have decided to do.

 

[artemis]

Remember that when it comes to new foods, birds are like toddlers. Remember how when you were little and your Mom would serve something new for dinner and you'd say "YUCK! I don't like it!" before you'd even tasted it? Well, that's a bird for you! It can take them a while to be brave enough to try a new food, much less to decide that it actually does taste pretty good after all. So don't be afraid to keep offering healthy foods your bird doesn't seem to like for now (like blueberries), because those could easily become favorites next week. Just make sure your bird also has access to food you know he likes and will eat at the same time, and that he is keeping his weight up.

My first parrot, a maroon-bellied conure, liked apples when I first got him. And that was it - apples. That was the only fresh food he would eat. So after a few days of watching him refuse other fresh foods, I went to the store and bought a nectarine with the darkest red blush I could find, cut a section from the red part, and offered it to him. Red on the outside, pale on the inside - APPLE! Or so he thought when he first bit it. He dropped it pronto, and looked at me with this offended expression, like I'd tried to pull a fast one on him. He didn't like it the next day when I played the same dirty trick on him again. But on day three, you could almost see the wheels spinning in his little birdie brain: "Well, it's not apple, but it doesn't exactly taste BAD..." Once nectarine was on the menu, we moved on to red grapes. It wasn't long before he was a little flying garbage pail, happily scarfing down all kinds of fruits and veggies. With birds, patience, persistence and a bit of cleverness sometimes pays off.

 

[Echo]

Apple seeds contain cyanide which is toxic however the peel is fine as long as you wash them to make sure there isn't any pesticide. Goes the same for all fruits where you keep the skin on like oranges, bananas, watermelon etc...

 

[MollyGreenCheeks]

no apple peels either

Toni

Toni, Wondering where you got this info about not feeding apple peels. This is the first I've read this. Molly and Cody love apples with the peels (with the exceptions of the seeds of course).

 

[KatherineI]

no apple peels either

Toni

Toni, Wondering where you got this info about not feeding apple peels. This is the first I've read this. Molly and Cody love apples with the peels (with the exceptions of the seeds of course).

That's a good question & I'm curious too. I've just automatically peeled the apples because I usually am cutting all the fruit up in the AM for my daughter's lunch, so the birds and the Spawn pretty much get the same fruit/veggie varieties. She likes her apples without the peel (unless she's eating it whole), so I just peel the whole thing and give it to Loki and Sugar peel-less but not because I've read anywhere that the peels are harmful.

 

[Nakiska]

no apple peels either

Toni

Toni, Wondering where you got this info about not feeding apple peels. This is the first I've read this. Molly and Cody love apples with the peels (with the exceptions of the seeds of course).

Honestly? The gal at the petstore told me no apple peels. I didn't question it and it's just a habit for me to peel the slice I give him anyway and I never looked into it.

Knowing Franklin he'd just spit the peel out anyway, so it saves me the mess.

Next time I go to the petstore, I'll ask her why "no apple peels"...and post the answer

Toni

 

[KatherineI]

Nakiska - Was this a chain store? I find that most chains don't really know what they're talking about.

Several internet searches came up empty in regards to apple peel, and the list my Avian Vet gave me does not mention no apple peels. I think peels are just fine - it's the seeds that are toxic. Perhaps the person you spoke with meant seeds and said peels instead?

 

[Cleo]

Apple seeds contain cyanide which is toxic however the peel is fine as long as you wash them to make sure there isn't any pesticide. Goes the same for all fruits where you keep the skin on like oranges, bananas, watermelon etc...

This sparks a new question. I was told not to cook with coated pans. That is can be highly toxic to birds. Is this true???

 

[Echo]

YES!!!! No TEFLON or other NON-STICK cookware. I only use stainless steel to cook with.

 

[Cleo]

YES!!!! No TEFLON or other NON-STICK cookware. I only use stainless steel to cook with.

Okay just making sure. I do have some stainless steel so been cooking with those. Thanks so much!