sean@limerick.Sun.COM (Sean Browne) (07/29/89)
I have a Maroon Belly Conure that I bought about three weeks ago. I'm feeding him seed mix recommended by the pet shop. He seems to only eat a certain small white seed out of the mix. I've also seen oats recommended. I offer him some fruit now and then and so far thin apple slices are the only fruit accepted. I had a Half Moon years ago that I eneded up giving to my sister when I went away to school. Every morning at breakfast it would walk down the length of my arm to sample cereal, eggs, waffle or whatever. It liked most anything as long as I appeared to be enjoying it. Does any one have a recommended diet for a conure besides the mix I picked up. Since he's only eating one type of seed I have a feeling it's the chocolate ice cream of parrot seeds. Any info would be appreciated. My new conure "Astro" is still very timid and not yet finger trained. The good thing is that while the half-moon was much less skittish and would think nothing of biting into my gloved hand, Astro doesn't bite period and I don't need a glove. He's stick trained and should proably be finger trained soon. -Sean
chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (07/31/89)
>I have a Maroon Belly Conure that I bought about three weeks ago. >I'm feeding him seed mix recommended by the pet shop. He seems to >only eat a certain small white seed out of the mix. That sounds like safflower. Safflower isn't quite as fatty as sunflower seed, but it's definitely not balanced. >I offer him some fruit now and then and so far >thin apple slices are the only fruit accepted. That's a start. Try offering him a wide range of things, including table scraps, to see what he likes. Keep notes, so you can reinforce things he's eating by feeding them more often. It can take a few weeks for a bird to decide to try a new food, so don't give up if it's rejected the first few times. I won't restart the seed/pellet debate (yet. I have an interesting article at home I'll write about tonight) but you might consider supplementing the seed diet with pellets if he'll take them. I'd definitely supplement with a vitamin or vitamin/mineral enhancement until he's on a more stable diet. One thing I'd consider trying is switching him to a non-safflower seed (even if that means sunflower instead of safflower) to see if you can get him to eat other things. Since he seems to be relying on that one seed so heavily, put a non-safflower mix in the dish in the morning. If he hasn't eaten by mid-afternoon, switch back to the regular seed so he can get his calories. Try this every third or fourth day (no more than every *other* day) until he starts eating the new seed mix. It's important to keep a bird's body weight up. You don't want to starve them for their own good, and it's really easy to do that even if you're being careful. Chuq Von Rospach =|= Editor,OtherRealms =|= Member SFWA/ASFA chuq@apple.com =|= CI$: 73317,635 =|= AppleLink: CHUQ [This is myself speaking. No company can control my thoughts.]