Conure Care

Intelligence, beauty and playful antics are three qualities which make an animal a good pet, and conures seem to have all these qualities in abundance. That explains why the members of this family of parrots are so sought after when it comes to exotic pets. Owing to their docile nature, amazing socializing skills and active nature, it is quite easy to tame the conure species. Add to it the fact that they learn tricks easily (and also have the ability to speak a few words,) and your pet experience is bound to become even better. That being said, you need to be well versed with details about how to care for a conure parrot even before you get one for yourself.

Conure Facts

• Conures are small to medium-sized parrots that are found in lush green forests of Central America, Mexico, South America and Caribbean Islands.
• In the United States, the term conure is more often restricted to bird keeping while all the individuals belonging to this species are referred to as parakeets.
• You get to see a great deal of diversity in conure species - especially when it comes to size and color. While the smallest conure species is the painted conure which seldom grows beyond 9 inches, the largest is the Patagonian conure which can attain a length of 19 inches when full-grown. Common colors in these species include lush green, brilliant yellow, red, orange, white, etc.
• Almost all the members of these species have a clearly defined eye ring - which is more prominent in females as compared to their male counterparts.
• In their natural habitat, conures feed on fruits, nuts, berries, grass seeds, buds, grains and insects.

Conure Care Guide

Conures are quite playful in nature, such that they don't just indulge in playful activities with other birds and humans but also play with other pets in the house. Being quite colorful in terms of appearance, the Sun conure parrot and the Jenday conure parrot seem to be the first choice when it comes to conures as pets. When getting a pet conure for yourself, you need to make sure that you choose a healthy individual from the pet shop. Other than the bright color of its plumage, a healthy conure bird will be quite active and have sparkling eyes. You should also checks for any signs of pests on its body. Given below is more information on caring for conure which will come handy for you if you intend to keep one as a pet.

Habitat/Housing
When choosing a bird cage to house a conure, you should take the bird's size into consideration. An ideal cage would be the one which has ample space for the bird to move around without any sort of restrictions. You will also have to provide two perches for your pet conure - one for roosting (which should be at some height in the cage) and other for feeding (which should be near the base itself.) Alongside the dish for food and a water bowl, you will also have to place a dish for gravel in the conure cage. A flat utensil filled with water would be ideal for bird bath and make sure that your pet is clean. One of the most important aspects of conure care is maintaining good hygiene, and therefore you will have to clean the cage (and change food and water in it) on a regular basis.

Diet
Conures are not as active in captivity as they are in wild, and therefore you need to be careful in what it comes to feeding your pet conure. You have the option of resorting to a formulated diet, seeds only diet or a mixture of both in form of parrot mixes. While formulated diet will provide the bird with most of the nutrients necessary, you will have to feed it with some vegetables and fruits for required phytonutrients. Similarly, if you are resorting to seeds only diet for your pet conure, you will have to give it additional vitamin and calcium supplements to make sure that it doesn't face a deficiency of the same. A cuttlebone will make a good calcium-rich dietary supplement for this species. More importantly, the water kept for the bird has to be changed on a regular basis. If required, you can also resort to water soluble vitamins to make sure that your pet gets necessary nutrients.

By resorting to these simple steps you will be able to make sure that your pet stays healthy throughout. Most important of all, this bird requires regular exercise as well as something to chew on. While climbing can be a good exercise for this species, a wooden perch will be ideal when it comes to gnawing. Many people are of the opinion that trimming a bird's wings is a cruel thing to do, but it is necessary to ensure that your bird doesn't fly around in the house and get caught into something or doesn't fly out of the window and end up harming itself.