What diet is recommended?

[ConureLover5368]

I am thinking of getting a Conure and I don't know what kind of diet would be right. Any suggestion on what diet I should use that you recommend or that you use that is working well?

 

[Timothy]

Congratulations on choosing to be owned by a Conure. They are fun, loving, quirky birds!

What type of Conure are you interested in getting, there are many varieties.

However, regardless of what type you get, i highly recommend a pellet diet from a reputable brand, like Zupreem, PrettyBird, Hagan, Etc (I personally like to use a mix of PrettyBird and Zupreem)

Pellets are excellent nutrition for your parrot, but should always be supplemented with fresh fruits, veggies, nuts and grains. There is a list of Safe and Unsafe foods for parrots
Here
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/24213-bird-safe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

I also recommend letting your Breeder/Seller Wean your little one before you take him home, Inexperienced hand feeding techniques can be damaging, and even deadly to your new companion. You can request that your new buddy be weaned onto a pellet diet and you can decrease the amount of seed he/she gets after proper body weight is achieved. And also pellets are a lot less messy!

 

[ConureLover5368]

Thank you

 

[RavensGryf]

Hi, I'd take a look at the high quality organic pellets such as Harrison's and Totally Organics (TOPS). I've seen proof of the high nutritional value of Harrison's by perfect blood work results over DECADES in a bird who likes to eat little else. Also vibrant beautiful plumage.
Another brand, Totally Organics uses a cold press method of processing, which simply put, keeps the maximum amount of nutrients in the finished product.

Some people choose to feed a quality seed mix instead of pellets as their dry food.

The vegetables packed with the most nutrition are going to be your dark greens and dark orange color. As far as what kind of vegetables your bird will like best, you'll have to experiment. Just avoid toxic foods of course (a good list with some suggestions is included in Timothy's post). Some fruits have more nutrition than others. Some are mostly just sugar water with vitamin C. Though their natural sugars are not as bad as sugars in processed foods, and they can add a bit of variety to the fresh food bowl.

Some people do sprouted seeds, which have an excellent source of phytonutrients. What are phytonutrients? Click here for an easy explanation. What Are Phytonutrients? Types and Food Sources There are some instructions for sprouting in this forum if you look under the search field.

Also, what you will hear people refer to as 'mash' is also popular. You can get creative as to what it contains. Legumes such as beans and lentils, various types of grains, variety of small fresh chopped items, even eggshells, etc, etc. (There are probably recipes under 'search'). A popular way of storing mash would be in ice cube trays for a conveniently sized portion to pop out and thaw.

Many people regularly give their bird(s) whatever the humans are eating. This can be good if you're a health nut, but bad if you're mostly eating processed fried foods for every meal... A little bit of a "decadent" food every now and then won't hurt. I would just use a good dose of common sense when feeding people food, and remember how tiny their bodies are in proportion to the amount of food you give.

As you can see, there are many options, and not everyone does the same thing. Some people do all of these things, while some just do a couple of these. Diet is a very controversial topic you'll find . In time, you will form your own opinion and come to settle on what works best for you. Hope this helps

 

[Timothy]

RavensGryf is 100% absolutely correct. Read that post carefully as it is one of the best answer's I've ever seen in response to a nutrition question! As far as pellets go, Again, RavensGryf is 100% correct I personally use Zupreem and PrettyBird pellets because I'm a cheap butt and my parrots are picky. You'll find that each individual parrot likes and dislikes a totally different variety than the next. The brands listed by Raven are excellent.
In my personal opinion there is no such thing as too much variety as long as the staples are being met. My parrots absolutely love my mom's thanksgiving sweet potato's (Mashed with orange juice added)
Read that guide i posted carefully because some foods are OK for parrots like potato, but only if it's cooked!

Also like Raven stated, Nutrition is one of the most controversial subject matters. The only thing everyone agrees on is your bird deserves excellent nutrition so he can be happy and healthy. This is going to be a fun learning experience and you may even purchase some new food for your bird that you've never even had before and find that you like it too!
This has happened to me, i never had fresh papaya before until i bought one for my bird and showed him it was food by taking a bite and i was like oh this is good!
Your new Conure will be a long term Friend and the two of you will bond. He will thrive off of your company and that is a gift in itself
Every Parrot is different, even siblings.
Just remember to give him love and affection always, Positive reinforcement for doing things you like. (A treat like a fresh grape for example!) (

 

[ConureLover5368]

Thank you for all the good information!!