Conures

What to expect from your Conure?

Conures are usually gregarious, playful, animates birds that enjoy and seek attention.  Some conures may be considered short-tempered, and their noise level can be irritating.  The less common Dusky and Green-cheeked Conures are somewhat quieter than the more familiar Jenday, Sun, Mitred or Half-moon Conures.  Conures generally have a cavalier attitude about investigating anything new in their environment; thus, they often suffer from injuries.  These birds are generally poor talkers, but they can be very vocal in the early morning and late afternoon.

What do Conures do all day?

Conures are playful and easily amused with simple toys.  They often lay on their backs and chew at their toys or may play hide and seek with a towel or brown bag in their enclosure.  Because they love to chew, any toys must be free of toxic metals, hooks, sharp objects or small, easily consumed components.  Providing chew toys or fresh cut branches from nontoxic, pesticide free trees is recommended for conures.  Check with your veterinarian for recommendations on locally available safe trees.

Are Conures Tame?

Young, hand raised conures adapt readily to new surroundings and handling procedures.  They should be exposed early in life to novel situations (car travel, hospital visits, multiple visitors in the household, other household pets) so that they are well adjusted to these events.  Discipline, leadership, patience, hooding (covering the head), a sense of ritual and the offering of rewards are necessary to modify the behavior of conures.  Even then, they are not completely trustworthy and may bite when they are angry or don’t get their way.

Why the wings should be clipped?

Conures that are allowed unrestricted freedom in the home can encounter numerous physical dangers or toxins; therefore, wing clipping is recommended.  The goal of clipping the wings is not to make the bird incapable of flight, but to prevent it from developing rapid and sustained flight and to prevent escape.  Maintenance trimming is required eight to twelve weeks after the start of a molt cycle.

How to keep your conure healthy, happy and safe!

·      Give lots of attention

·      Feed a fresh, high quality, toxin free formulated diet with daily supplementation of chopped vegetables and fruit according to the manufacturer’s recommendations

·      Grit is probably not necessary with modern captive diets

·      Provide clean, fresh, uncontaminated water ( try using water bottles)

·      Remove and replace food and water containers twice daily to maximize activity in a healthy bird

·      Provide occasional opportunity for bath, shower, or misting ( at least weekly)

·      Avoid spraying house with insecticides

Housing for your conure should:

·      Be as large as possible

·      Be clean, secure, safe and easy to service

·      Be constructed of durable, non-toxic materials

·      Contain variable-sized perches made of clean, non-toxic, pesticide free tree branches

·      Have food and water containers placed at opposite ends of the enclosure

·      Avoid having perches located directly over food containers

·      Offer occasional opportunity for protected outdoor exposure to fresh air, sunlight and exercise.

Conures are very curious and will investigate anything new in their environment.  That is why it is important to prevent them access to:

·      Ceiling Fans

·      Hot cooking oil

·      Teflon coated items

·      Leg chains

·      Sandpaper-covered perches

·      Tobacco and cigarette smoke

·      Chocolate, avocado, salt, and alcohol

·      Toxic houseplants

·      Toxic fumes

·      Easily dismantled toys

·      Dogs, cats and young children

·      Cedar, redwood and pressure treated wood shavings

·      Sources of lead or zinc