Animal-World > Pet Birds > Conures > Conure Care

   Conures make delightful pets... because they are so affectionate and comical!

   The conure is a remarkable bird, popular because of their beauty and intelligence. They are easily tamed and very social, quite active and they love to learn tricks. Most conures can learn a few words though their voices are high pitched and so what they are saying is often unclear. They are hardy birds that rarely get sick.
   A single bird will tame quickly and soon learn new tricks. They like to preen and be preened, and just enjoy your company in general. Males and females make equally good pets.

   The conures come from a very large and diverse group of parrots!

   Many conures belong in the genus Aratinga. In this genus, there is some disagreement among ornithologists as to the number of species and subspecies, it ranges between 15 to 21 species and 55 to 57 subspecies. In the genus Brotogeris there are 7 species and 15 subspecies. The genus Enicognathus has two species, the Slender-bill Conure and the Astral Conure. The genus Cyanoliseus has the Patagonia Conure and its' three subspecies. Lastly, in the genus Pyrrhura, there are 18 species and 37 subspecies. There are two endangered conures at present, the Queen of Bavaria or Golden Conure, Aratinga guarouba from northern Brazil and the Blue-throated Conure, Pyrrhura cruentata.

Distribution:
   The conure parrots natural habitats range from Mexico and Central America to the Caribbean Islands and South America. Many of the wild species are becoming scarce and some are on the brink of extinction.

Care and feeding:
   The personal hygiene of your conure includes a morning bath to keep their plumage glossy and beautiful. Use either a flat earthenware dish that your bird can step into and use it's beak to throw water on itself, or spray your bird with a light mist of lukewarm water. It may very well open it's wings up to get a complete bath if you use the spraying method. There will be a lot of preening after it's bath! This is where your conure will reach with it's beak down to the oil gland at the end of it's body, using the oil to lubricate it's feathers and end up with a beautiful sheen.
   The wings should be kept trim if you want to discourage flight and to prevent the loss of your pet through an open window or door. Conures generally maintain their nails and beaks pretty well on their own through climbing and chewing. There are many mineral blocks, lava blocks, and other beak grooming items available at your pet store to help your bird keep it's beak in shape. However both the nails and the beak should be trimmed if they get overgrown.
   Conures are much more sedentary in captivity than in the wild so their diet should be somewhat restricted. In the wild they feed mainly on grass seeds, nuts, berries, fruits, flowers, buds, insects and grains.
   Foods available for Conures include formulated diets, either pelleted or extruded, seed only diets, and small parrot mixes which offer a mixture of both. There are pros and cons to feeding only a formulated diet as well as feeding only a seed diet. A formulated diet provides a good nutritional base so does not require the addition of vitamins, however it does not contain the phytonutrients (antioxidant pigments) that are found in vegetables, fruits, grains, and seeds. Phytonutrients are believed to boost the immune system, help a body to heal itself, and to prevent some diseases. Also conures can become bored with it due to the lack of variety. A seed only diet offers much more variety but requires additional vitamin and calcium supplements. Conures need not only nutritional requirements met but also variety for psychological enrichment.
   A conure's diet consisting of a good small parrot mix which is supplemented with various fruits, green foods, millet spray, and occasionally some mealworms is generally regarded as suitable. A cuttlebone, or gravel and oyster shell in a separate dish can be provided. Vitamins can be added to the drinking water or the food. Some of the supplemental foods include apples, grapes, many garden vegetables such as spinach, watercress, field lettuce, poppy, chickweed, dandelions, carrots, corn on the cob, peas, endive, and sweet potatoes, peanuts, monkey chow, and even dog food. Do not feed avocado as it is toxic to birds! Additional proteins can be offered such as cottage cheese, hardboiled eggs, peanuts, monkey chow, and even dog food. Fresh water should be provided daily.

Housing:
   A cage best suited for a conure must be large enough that the tail does not touch the bottom, and the bird has enough room for unrestricted movements. For a small size conure, a minimum of 24"x16"x20" (60 x 40 x 50 cm), and for the larger species, a minimum of 44"x26"x40" (120 x 65 x 100 cm). This will provide room for both horizontal exercise and vertical climbing. Provide two Perches, sized between 3/4" to 1" (2 - 2.5 cm). Place one up high for roosting and one low by the food, water, and gravel dishes. Natural perches from willow, poplar and fruit trees are good for the bird's feet and for it's beak. The gnawing it will do on the perches will also alleviate your pet's boredom. Place the cage where it will be away from harmful fumes and drafts. To provide you pet with a sense of security, you can cover the cage at night.
   An indoor aviary is a cage set up in a room. A bird room is an inside aviary with sand or corn cob covering a tiled floor. An outdoor or breeding aviary needs to have a protected shelter that can be heated and cooled where necessary. The ideal size of an aviary is a length which is 10 times the length of the bird and a width and height of 6' (2m).

Maintenance:
   The basic cage care includes daily cleaning of the water and food dishes. Weekly you should wash all the perches and dirty toys. The floor should be lined with newspaper and changed daily, or covered with an absorbent bedding such as corn cobs or pine shavings and changed weekly. A total hosing down and disinfecting of an aviary should be done yearly, replacing anything that needs to be freshened, such as old dishes, toys and perches.

Social Behaviors:
   Conures are very friendly, peaceful birds. They live in flocks in the wild, and very seldom fight each other. It is this disposition that makes many of them very easy to finger train in just a few weeks in captivity.

Handling/Training:
   Always handle your pet conure gently. If a person is a afraid of a bird, the bird can sense this and it can make it impossible to develop a relationship. Never hit your bird or you will loose it's trust, probably forever.
   To train you pet, the first thing you should do is have it's wings clipped. A bathroom is a good area for working with your conure to train it. Be sure to cover the mirrors, have the windows closed and covered and the door closed. Place the conure on a perch. If it insists on flying off, pick it up and replace it on the perch until it becomes use to the perch and is comfortable with it. The next step is to take a second perch and gently push into your pet's chest to encourage it to step up on it. Sometimes offering a treat to coax it up on the perch as it reaches for the treat will help. Once it steps up without hesitation, you can then substitute your finger for the perch. If your conure tries to bite, you can blow on it and it will soon learn to behave. Always reward good behavior and each success with loving praise and a treat. Some treats are a cracker, fruit such as a piece of grape, or a nut. These are very bright birds and love learning tricks. Some of the tricks you can teach it to do are to play dead, lay on it's back, and even pick up objects and bring them to you. Your conure can also learn to talk with patience and persistence. For an extensive parrot training system that potentially turns your bird into a fun, loving companion as well as learning lots of cool trickls, try Chet Womach's Parrot Training Course.

Activities:
   Conures need a great deal of exercise, and all conures are chewers. They must have distractions to keep them from becoming bored and lonely. Gnawing and climbing are great activities for this. They will generally chew up anything wooden! Natural perches and fresh twigs from willow, elder, poplar, and hawthorn work well. Other great toys include bells, ropes, swings, untreated leather, chew toys and ladders. They love mirrors and shiny unbreakable objects. Exercise and play are important activities for the physical well being and psychological health of your conure, but remember, they also need 10 - 12 hours of rest per day.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   Conures are fairly easy to breed. They must first adapt themselves to their environment before they will breed. Once they do breed, however, they will continue to breed year after year. Due to the destruction of their natural habitats, all conures shall ideally be breed in captivity to insure continuation of each species. Smaller conure species are ready to breed at 2 years and the larger at 3 1/2 to 4 years.
   The sex of most conures is difficult to determine by physical characteristics alone even if you are an experienced breeder. In some birds sex can be determined by iris coloring, with females having red while males have black, and in several birds sexes can be distinguished by differences in the coloration of their plumage. Pelvic bones may be closer on a male than a female. The sex on all others must be determined by either a surgical probe, endoscopy, which can be done by many veterinarians; by a DNA testing, usually a blood sample or a few plucked feathers sent to be diagnosed in a lab; or a chromosomal analysis.
   They will need a nest box placed up high that is filled 2/3's full with pine shavings, peat, or other soft materials. Metal nesting boxes are nice as conures will often chew wooden ones. Pyrrhura and Aratinga can use a nesting box that is 12"x12"x12" (30 x 30 x 30 cm). Humidity is best at between 50 - 55%.
   After mating, the female will spend a lot of time in the box. When she starts laying, she will lay an egg about every other day until she has laid between 3 to 8 eggs. She will brood for approximately 27days. The young will leave the nest when they are about 50 days old.

Potential Problems:
   Most conures are healthy, hardy birds. Kept under optimal conditions and fed a balanced diet, they are remarkably resistant to disease. As with all parrots, signs of illness to be aware of are ruffled plumage, resting often with their head tucked under their wing or rump, not eating, discharge from the nostrils or mouth, cloudy eyes, loose watery droppings, weight loss (chest bone starts sticking out), large water intake, labored breathing, opening and closing it's mouth, listlessness, perhaps sitting on the bottom of the cage, stops talking, and growths around the beak. Some of the common illnesses your conure could contract are Aspergillosis - respiratory infection, Candidiasis, cold and sinus inflammations, diarrhea, egg binding, egg pecking, eye infections, feather plucking, frostbite, goiter or thyroid gland enlargement, mites, Pacheco's Disease, psittacosis, Salmonella, worms. An ailing parrot should be taken to a avian veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment.

   Behavior problems usually stem from something missing in the bird's environment. Cockatoos are particularly vulnerable to feather plucking because of their intense need for socializtion. Boredom, lack of trust, lack of interaction with other birds or people can lead to problems like biting, feather plucking, and screaming. Try to develop a bond of trust and spend time with your bird to help avoid these problems. We have also had good success with Chet Womach's Parrot Training Course. He offers a free 3-day introductory course so you can try it out before you buy anything.

Availability:
   Due to successful breeding efforts, many of the more popular conure parrot species are very available in the pet industry. There are many handfed babies becoming increasingly available.