Conure care

Conure sitting on person's shoulder

Active and colorful, conures make excellent pets. They can entertain their owners and themselves for hours. These wonderful little birds tame easily, can learn to speak several words, and are known for their engaging personalities. They are inquisitive, and love attention and closeness from their owners. They can live for up to 35 years. Conures are generally compatible with other conures.

Diet

Being enormously curious and playful, they like a varied diet and should be provided with foods in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and textures: 50% quality pelleted diet, 40% vegetables (e.g., greens, legumes, corn-on-the-cob), 10% fruits, and an occasional nut, mealworm or cricket. Use many varieties of fruits and vegetables, washed thoroughly. No avocados or fruit pits.

Housing

Conures are active and playful birds that need a large cage to climb around in. Time out of the cage is extremely important. Bonding, training, and physical and mental health are affected by cage confinement.

Grooming

Wing trims are recommended for safety. Clipping wings should only be attempted after proper instruction provided by your vet clinic.

Playtime and exercise

Conures are highly intelligent and curious, and love to cuddle. They like bathing (including showers), and will use their water bowl if nothing else is available. They are clever escape artists and acrobats. Conures are avid chewers as well, and need to be provided with plenty of toys for this purpose or the behavior can become destructive.

Hanging toys are favorites for this species. They love to climb and hang. Rope toys, chain toys, and toys with hoops or rings are great. Small pieces of cardboard or toilet paper rolls make good chew items in the cage. Conures love to snuggle under things, so providing them with a tightly woven wash cloth, soft piece of fabric or fuzzy toy will be appreciated.

Vocalization

Conures have a harsh and shrill screech. They will pick up human speech with relative ease, especially when exposed at an early age.

In pairs or groups, vocalization is much more concentrated and continuous. An individual pet is usually more manageable and tolerable for most households. Reasonable noise levels can be maintained when you provide plenty of positive attention and playtime for your conure. Behavior problems can be prevented with positive reinforcement, gentle guidance, and proper training from early in their lives.