Diets

04/18/2010

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It has been a little while since my last post!  I have been watching nests and hatching babies and it has been FUN! 

I had a very good question from a client a few days ago, and thought I would post about it.
One of Ic and Caly's babies is going to a family, in which a child has a nut allergy.  For their family, they could never have a Macaw, or too many of the other large species of parrots because in their diets they require nuts.  But this got me thinking, so I made sure that there is a food that could be used. 

The mix that we wean the babies too has no nuts in it, but is made in a mill that does work with nuts, so there may be trace elements. 

Always check labels!  I have noticed that lots of treats contain nuts!  Nurtuberries contain nuts!  And most other treats that I looked at and checked labels contained some form of nut.

When in doubt, use a pellet only diet with lots of supplemented veggies and fruits for your Green Cheek Conure.  I also then suggest twice weekly proteins of chicken, a small amount.  They LOVE it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Conure Queen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Learned vs natural behavior Part 2: Flock mentality

04/09/2010

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No matter how large or how small the bird is, they rely on people to be their "flock".  What does this mean, you may ask.....

The flock consists of sometimes hundreds of birds (depending on species).  Foraging and protection are the two main goals!  Food and being safe.  So, our bird buddies see US as their family, their protection, their food source, their source of play and companionship. 

This is NATURAL behavior.  Especially with the small Conures, they want to be constant companions. 

It takes LEARNED behavior for them to want to be alone, and honestly, even with training, you should then ask yourself why you got a Conure in the first place!  They should be able to sit by themselves in their cage, but when out, they will innately want to be with you.  Green Cheeks especially are not great "stand" birds.  They will fly around and seek you out if you leave the room. 

I always tell people to remember that the bird/human bond is very strong, but their trust can be broken sometimes irrevocably.  If you punish them each time that they fly to you, they will come to see you as someone NOT to be trusted, and you will loose your wonderful companion.

I love the bond, only for the reason that once it is established, the sun rises and falls on you in your bird's eyes!  Who else can you say that about!


~~~~~~~~~Conure Queen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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