diet corrections/physical problems

[Pajarita]

Hi, I'm new here... I have a question

I bought my first conure a few months ago and upon switching diets, his feathers are starting to turn black around the tips, I'm not sure if this is just feather bronzing from rubbing in his little happy hut tent, or if it is malnutrition. (he doesn't like fresh foods much, so he doesn't eat much of that unfortunately. Although I am trying to coax him into having more)

Upon better diet will his feathers return back to normal, or will he have to molt them out entirely? (He just finished molting about a month ago)

Thanks!!

You say you switched his diet but you don't say what he had before and what he is having now so it would help if you did.

Now, feather bronzing is, basically, a change in coloration due to the feather losing its integrity - it happens when they overgroom or they rub them against a hard surface so I don't think that a hut would do it. When you see black, it's usually stress bars and, in my personal experience, they are three main reasons why this happens: subclinical condition (like a low grade bacterial infection, for example), emotional and physical stress. My GCC came back to me (I had rehomed her to one of my daughters' mother in law) with black 'spots' all over her back and wings and it took two molts for her to finally get rid of all of them (she now has completely green back and upper wings). I don't know if it was the diet or lack of attention but she wasn't doing well with her and, when I saw that, I took her back. Now, emotionally, they are VERY needy little birds to the point that I usually compare them to cockatoos and, when they don't get enough hours with their human, they show it one way or another (most get real nippy). And, diet wise, they are mainly fruit eaters in the wild so a diet that is high in protein and low in produce can do it, too. But, when it comes to diet and plumage, you need to take into consideration that the feather is produced way before you see it all grown out so, it's entirely possible that the problem you are seeing now was not created by anything you are doing now but what happened before...

Why don't you tell us a bit about his diet and an usual day so we can give you better pointers?

[Hannah777]

Well, his owners had him on a pellet diet, they gave me a sample to mix in with whatever I decided to feed him, but they never told me the name of it.

I chose a seed mix, which had dried fruits and veggies, nuts and other stuff too, not just seeds. Then, I noticed he was losing weight. So I went to the pet store, and talked to them there, and they suggested some pellets, and he refuses to eat them alone, or mixed in with the seed mix. (I forget the brand) he gets fresh fruits here and there, but I'm sure not nearly enough. I'm trying my hand at sprouting my canary seed, (he loves eating it just as is) and I'm going to see a vet and pick up some Harrison pellets on Tuesday hopefully!!

I looked up stress marks, and these don't look like them...its almost like the tips of his feathers are blackening. But he just finished his molt, and his feathers were gorgeous when they first came in. I'm thinking it's just malnutrition. He rubs his beak on the bars too, but the amount of cracking etc looks normal. It isn't powdering or anything. I wish I could post pictures. I tried but it says they are too big and I'm not sure how to format them so they fit on here.

[Hannah777]

I was working full time when I got him but have since gone down to part time....so I see him and spend a lot of time with him for the first half of the week, but the second half gets busier for me. But I do make sure to handle him daily. He is kept in my bedroom, so I have no choice but to give him some cuddles daily. Some days more than others though. Same with my little pinapple conure. I got her as a companion for him because i feared he was lonely when I am at work. Canaries aren't good buddies for a conure xD event though he doesn't mind them flying around and visiting him.

[Hannah777]

These are them this was the only pic that went through

I'll see if I can get one where his feathers show better.

[Hannah777]

Here we go! So Ollie is the gold cap, and Peggy is the pinapple Ollie is 8 and Peggy was hatched this year, first Sunday in September.

You can see it's on the edge, not mid feather like stress bars

[Pajarita]

What an incredibly CUTE picture of them cuddling together!!! Now, depending on the species, the stress bars sometimes show as edges. I know that they are often described as 'bars' but I learned this because when I first got my Lesser Jardine, I though she had the most beautiful pattern on her chest and back -it looked like lacy black scallops on green satin made by the black edges of the green contour feathers- but it turned out that the 'beautiful scallops' started disappearing on her first molt and, after her second, there were none. It wasn't a pattern, it was stress bars!

Now, I've never had a goldencap so I don't have any experience on this species but I have a little peachfront that is very similar. I checked the natural diet of the goldencaps and the description is identical to that of the peachfronts (fruits and grains -like maize- and some seeds, see this: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22685710/0) and they are also in the same area (the peach fronted is all over Brazil, west Paraguay and Northern Argentina and Uruguay while the goldencaps come from Southeast Brazil only but that is part of the peachfront territory). Now, for a conure that eats mostly fruits in the wild (they mention mango, papaya, oranges), a pellet diet is no good. It's too dry, too high in protein and it has no phytonutrients whatsoever so the first thing you need to do is put him a good diet. I (and some others -not all- here) feed gloop for breakfast with fresh produce daily (I give mine a different fruit, veggie and leafy green every day) and seed for dinner. Now, for a bird that eats mostly fruits, you need to keep the protein low so I would suggest a good budgie mix which I would continue until breeding season next year when I would increase his protein by adding some quinoa or hemp to his budgie mix (sparingly, mind you). The reason why I mention these two seeds is because they are the only seeds that are considered 'complete protein' meaning they have all the essential amino acids.

If he is like my Pablo (the peachfront), he will take to the new diet like a fish to water - and he is an old ex-breeder bird so it's not as if anybody taught him to eat a good diet! But, of course, there will be a transition period so just give him enough seed in the evening (when the sun is halfway down to the horizon -you need to turn off the artificial lights) for him to fill up his crop and, once he is asleep (he will fall asleep naturally as night falls), take the seed bowl out. In the morning, replace it with gloop or whatever you decide to feed him that is not a high protein food (seeds, pellets, nutriberries, nuts, avicakes, etc) and mix a sprinkle of seeds in it (this is to entice him as well as to show him that it's food -they are very suspicious of new things). I give my GCC and my peachfront a big piece of fruit, larger than one would think they would eat if one goes by their size. They are not very keen on the leafy greens but they do like to munch on the crunchy ones so offer the very heart of the romaine, bok choy and, Pablo's and Codee's favorite: red Swiss Chard (but not more often than every ten days because it's very high in oxalic acid).

Let me know if you have any doubts, questions, etc.

[Hannah777]

Awesome! That helped so much, what all is in gloop? Hehe I haven't even heard of it before!! I will definitely look into getting more fresh fruits and veggies, he doesn't really eat much when I offer it, so it usually goes wasted. Although he loves oranges

[Chantilly]

@Hannah 5wholgrains and frozen veggies and fruit. Their is more info at the start of this topic.
Pajarita so you boil it? at what heat?

[Wolf]

Water boils at 212 degrees F. , the only way to make it hotter is to use a pressure cooker. Whether the water is just barely boiling or doing a pot shaking full boil the water is still only 212 deg. F.

[Hannah777]

Wonderful! <3 thank you guys so much!!! I appreciate it a lot!!! Ollie says thank you!!! Peggy too! But I haven't noticed anything but improvement since I have had her.