Slim Parrot

[4HAND]

What do you do if your parrot is very slim and can't seem to gain weight? He is an older bird. We have only had him for 2 months. He is healthy and plays with his toys. Do older birds have a problem keeping weight on?
He eats: Zupreem pellets [green only],almonds, pecans, walnuts,peanuts, Higgins True Fruits, nutriberries[his favorite, 3 a day], Bean Cuisine, fresh fruit [bananas are his favorite] safflower, millet and assorted table food.


Nolan [Tena's son]

[swanwillow]

depends on what type of bird it is!

an African Grey versus an Eclectus have very different dietary needs, same with indian ringneck parakeets versus sennies.. quakers are a bad one for being overweight.

And fat isn't good. You should beable to feel the breast bone, and it feels 'full' on both sides muscle wise. Underweight would be sunken in muscles, while fat, you can barely feel the breast bone.

I've dealt with both; an overweight quaker and a severely underweight teil. With both, it included a diet revamp. The quaker went onto pellets, he dropped weight quickly since his fattiness was from seeds and people food. The teil, I put onto more seeds; his was simply from the previous owners not changing his food bowl when all of his seeds ran out, cause it still looked full...

[4HAND]

This is a blue crown conure.Before we got him his diet was poor [mostly sunflower seeds].His new feathers are much nicer than the old ones he's loosing.I'm just comparing him to our sun conure who looks fatter.
Nolan

[Monica]

Some birds tend to have more bulk to their bodies than others... i.e. conures are "buff" birds vs tiels who tend to be sleek. Amazons tend to be pretty "rounded". Lovebirds are also pretty "buff" although budgies are more slender.

Allowing a bird to fly or exercise daily can put on muscle which can also put on weight... but it can also bring down a heavy birds weight (I've had a tiel go from 90 some grams to 130 some grams and now back to 90 some grams! she was probably starved thus overate, then when flighted loss weight... or she was just plain lazy!) Her mum is also a heavy set (but she can't fly), and her dad is pretty slim. Tomi Girl is also slim, and so although I'd like both Pistachio and Tomi Girl to gain weight, they don't seem "interested" in being 90+ grams in weight.


Your blue crown may either be at the appropriate weight for his size or he could be a little underweight or overweight... either way, it'll take time for him to gain some weight, or loose it. I'm sure even after 2 months he's been moving in the right direction!

[swanwillow]

yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine too! I love conures. If you can, get a digital scale to record his weight, and start taking it daily at the same time. That way, its always on an empty/full stomach, and you can monitor if hes loosing weight or gaining weight, or even if that weight is normal for him.

[sadiemom]

First find out what the normal weight is for this type of conure. You should be able to find that online or the avian vet would probably have a brochure from Harrisons that lists the normal weight ranges. That way you will have a frame of reference for when you weigh him.

[tielfan]

If you take your birds to see an avian vet, he/she can tell you whether either one is overweight or underweight based on physical examination. The people on an internet forum may know what to look for, but they can't tell if there's a problem because they can't actually see your birds!

[ROYJOY]

all those nuts should do the trick, but if he was fed only sunflower seeds while he was growing and developing, he just grew up that way, and will be a slim bird.

[4HAND]

He was imported to the U.S. over 15 years ago,probably wild caught.I don't think he's sick in any way.Just had a rough life.He also had been severly wingclipped,But now that his flight is returning he seems so happy.I'd like to switch him from Zupreem to Harrisons.They have a pellet they recomend for underweight birds.Can anyone give me a Comparisson of pellet size.It's hard to see from the picture how big they are.
Tena

[ROYJOY]

i feed my conure, the tiel size. he likes it better than the parrot size.