Putting weight on a sun conure

Question

hey all.. i have a 6 moth /- sun conure who's very skinny.. his breast bone is quite prominant..

we've beedn feeding him lefeber's cockateil nutraberries, unscription cockateil (and recently) conure mix, and various fresh and dried fruits.. but he never seems to pack on any weight..

i recently saw some sun's at the store and picked up a bag of what those fat pigs were eating..

any advise?

we've kept parrots before but never a sun conure and have never had this problem

Answer 1

Sunflower and Safflower seeds have a lot of fat.  You might want to have him checked out by an Avian Vet.  I have a skinny African Grey no matter what I do can I fatten him up.  I also spent $400.00 having every test there is to check him out and they found nothing, so he is just a skinny Grey.

Answer 2

"Picked up a bag of what those fat pigs were eating.." Lol. My sun conure has no problem wolfing down the food, so I understand. Sun conures are usually notorious for being little piggies so I am worried to hear that he is not gaining weight. My question is whether or not he was hand raised by you or if there was any chance that he was weaned too early. This can sometimes cause nutrition problems as the bird never really understood how to eat on his own.

My advice to you is to get him to a vet first and have a full work up done in order to eliminate any health problems. Parrots are very good about hiding any health problems until it is too late, and not eating is sometimes a sign of a more serious underlying problem. If he is indeed healthy the vet should be able to at least tell you what to feed or do in order to put some weight on your little fella. Good luck!

Answer 3

HI

I had the same problem. My SC was very tiny and skinny. My vet told me to add a bit more protein to the food(not too much). In the wild, It mainly feeds on fruits, flowers, berries, nuts, and the like. So I have read lots of yummy nuts help add more protein. Give him some time, and soon your lil buddy will look Fab!!!

Answer 4

Sun Conures should weigh between 100-120 grams. I'll take a guess and say that the vet meant 108 lol. But yeah, dont worry about the breast bone too much. Try touching it after a nice big meal but anyway, dont worry too much about it. As long as your bird is still active and happy then you're okay. When it becomes lethargic and starts dropping in weight, then take it to a vet.

Oh and buy yourself a scale. Buy one of those tiny kitchen scales for weighing vegetables and the sort They cant be more than 15 bucks. Thats what I use to weigh my Sun. She weighs 100 grams exactly but is very hyperactive and happy so dont worry too much about your Sun.

Answer 5

How much does he weigh?  Obviously if his keel bone is very prominant he's got some weight problems.  Have you had him checked by your avian vet?  He could have a parasite or other intestinal problems that are keeping him from gaining the weight.

Otherwise, you could try Avi-Gain to help absorb more calories.  It's available online at avianbiotec.com.  I use it with newly hatched chicks and weaning chicks and it helps maintain weight without promoting obesity.