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FAQ - Feeding & Nutrition

Our FAQ pages provide a list of questions that are frequently posted on our message board. The answer is a summary of the best advice given in response to the question by our members.

It is recommended that you consult a variety of experts and resources in order to make an informed decision regarding the care of your conure.

What should I feed my conure?

There's no one perfect diet for a conure or one single way to provide a good diet. Offering a variety of healthy foods is the key, especially when they have just weaned and are open to new foods.

A good approach is to offer them pellets and water in their cages at all times and to offer a grain/bean/veggie mash in the morning (removing after a few hours to prevent spoilage) then giving an assortment of dark leafy greens (no spinach as it binds calcium) and other veggies.

Frozen mixed veggies from a bag, warmed in the microwave, can be a quick and easy way of providing a warm veggie mix once a day. Supplement with fresh veggies to ensure your conure gets all the vitamins it needs.

What kind of "people food" is OK for my conure?

Anything that would be considered "healthy people food" is OK for a conure. For example, foods that are low in fat, sugar, and salt are OK. Don't feed your conure avocado (the skin and bruised flesh are poisonous), chocolate, or caffeine it is dangerous for them to eat even a small portion of these foods. Stay away from junk food such as potato chips and foods with refined sugar and flour.

It's OK to let your conure sample what you are eating, as long as it's healthy for them and they are eating their fresh greens, veggies, pellets, and fruit.

As with humans, moderation is the key. Make sure they are getting plenty of variety and the occasional bit of human food will be OK. But be careful they aren't turning their beaks up at the good stuff in their own bowls in favor of what's on your plate.

Should I feed only organic produce?

Organic is preferable but you can feed thoroughly-washed non-organic produce. However, you may want to be careful about using produce that was grown outside of North America though as not all countries are as careful about using pesticides.

The potential exists for produce from large commercial growers to be contaminated with bacteria like E. coli or salmonella. That is why all produce, organic or otherwise, should be washed thoroughly before giving it to your parrot.

You can rinse the produce in a bowl of water to which grapefruit seed extract (GSE), a natural germicide, has been added. GSE is available in most health food stores. Rinse the produce again after you've washed in in the water/GSE mixture.

Do "rainbow"-tinted pellets change the color of a bird's droppings?

Yes, the colored pellets can affect the color of a bird's droppings. Our members report seeing changes in their bird's poop after feeding colored pellets. Red, in particular, appeared to show up in the droppings, sometimes alarming the bird's owner. The droppings also stain fabrics and flooring if they are not cleaned up swiftly.

The urate portion of the droppings is most commonly affected by eating pellets and other foods that are brightly colored. Owners sometimes see changes in the urate coloring after their bird ingests berries, e.g. blackberries or raspberries.

If you notice a color change in your bird's droppings that seems to be unrelated to the food they've recently even, you should take them to your avian vet for evaluation.

For more on understanding your bird's droppings, see the Poop-ology article on the American Cockatiel Society website.