Poppy's diary

[Mirlito]

Hi everyone, as most of you will know I am a proud owner of baby Poppy the crimson bellied conure. She was born on the 30th of January in Málaga.

Poppy is almost fully weaned from the NutriBird A21 formula to twice a day she will eat around 5ml daily.

Now she is eating pellets from NutriBird P15 original, she will not eat anything else and we have tried her on more expensive pellets.


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Ingredients:
cereals, seeds (min 10% groundnut kernels), fruit (min 5% fresh fruit), vegetable protein extracts, derivatives of vegetable origin, sugars, minerals, L-lysine, methionine, extr. yucca schidigera, fructo-oligosaccharides, vitamins, trace elements

Nutritional values:
crude protein 15%
crude fat 16%
crude ash 4.5%
crude fibre 3.5%
calcium 0.9%
phosphorus 0.6%
methionine 0.33%
lysine 0.8%
sodium 0.2%
magnesium 0.15%
vitamin A 12,000 IU/kg
vitamin D3 1,200 IU/kg
vitamin E 30mg/kg
vitamin K 1.2mg/kg
vitamin B1 1.5mg/kg
vitamin B2 8mg/kg
vitamin B3 12.5mg/kg
vitamin B6 3mg/kg
vitamin B12 20ug/kg
vitamin C 25mg/kg
vitamin PP 32mg/kg
folic acid 0.4mg/kg
biotin 200ug/kg
choline 550mg/kg
threonine 0.5%
tryptophan 0.15%
iron 30mg/kg
copper 14mg/kg
manganese 85mg/kg
zinc 100mg/kg

[Mirlito]

Poppy now at almost 3 months old

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[Wendy K.]

I swear, Poppy is SO brightly colored, I've never seen one like it! BRILLIANT!!! The pellets she is on sound fantastic, Sarah! Does she, or has she, tried eating any fresh fruit and veggies yet?

I found with my fids, the easiest and fastest way to get them to try something new is to eat WITH them. I'd show them the food, take a bite, make excessive yummy sounds (yes, it sounds cartoonish), then offer them a piece, and most of the time it works right away. :)

[Mirlito]

Hi thanks :) She has lovely bright colours and the photos don´t do her justice.

She loves fruit and veg and sometimes I have to pretend I am eating them and make "MMMM!" sounds and she soon follows suit but it´s not been too difficult. The only problem I have with her is that she hates her cage during the day and will be very unsettled, she has plenty of toys and what not but It´s like she is over bonded with me. At night she will happily go in her cage and eat/sleep.

[aliray]

she is very young and wants to be with mommy. Her colors are so pretty

[Mirlito]

Thanks Alison. There is something that worries me, well maybe I am a bit over protective of her, however she wants to eat seed too it contains a mix of sunflower seeds, green fruit parts and other seeds would that be ok? I have it in her cage with her pellets.

[roxynoodle]

Everyone has different opinions on feeding parrots. I feel conures don't need seed as it offers little in the way of nutrients and pellets are largely made of seeds and grains anyway. The difference is that the pellets are nutritionally balanced and provide the right amounts of protein, fat and vitamins and minerals. And when given the choice of both pellets and seeds many birds will only eat the seeds, and not receive proper nutrition.

I feed all my birds pellets, fresh vegetables and some fruit and a bit of other healthy fresh foods like cooked chicken or turkey, egg, brown rice, beans and pasta. Last night I gave them each a small piece of multi-grain blueberry waffle as well.

I don't see that the pellets have omega 3/6 fatty acids though, which birds also need. Most pellets don't. You can provide those by feeding Lafeber products like Nutriberries, red palm oil, canola oil, walnuts and flax seed. My birds are all very fond of Nutriberries and walnuts so those are my primary source of the omega fatty acids.

[Mirlito]

Thanks I will try her with walnuts we have pecan trees here too would that be good?

I just finished making her a mash (from what I had in the fridge) from fresh carrots, potato, pasta, green pepper and a whole egg (inc shell)

I had a helping hand too

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I intend to split it up into ice cube trays (large ones) so she can have it daily or every second day with fruits

[Wendy K.]

And when given the choice of both pellets and seeds many birds will only eat the seeds, and not receive proper nutrition.

I feed all my birds pellets, fresh vegetables and some fruit and a bit of other healthy fresh foods like cooked chicken or turkey, egg, brown rice, beans and pasta. Last night I gave them each a small piece of multi-grain blueberry waffle as well.


Boy isn't THAT the truth!!! When I first got my Hunter I offered her seeds AND pellets in her dry food dish. In a relatively short amount of time, she stopped touching the pellets, and only went for the fattiest seeds (sunflower seeds).

I am now a firm believer in pellets, nutriberries and/or AviCakes and fresh fruit, veggies and also a daily dose of my homecooked diet. Oh, AND birdy bread. :D

[Mirlito]

I don´t mind cooking her mash (veggies) and giving her fruit daily (strawberries, bananas and apples) but she doesn´t eat a lot but then again she isn´t a huge bird. I don´t have scales to weigh her, that isn´t a big problem is it?

She ate 4 pellets 15 minutes ago, thats the first she has ate since 6 and it´s 9.30.

[roxynoodle]

Pecans are a healthy nut, but I don't know if they are high in omega fatty acids. If they are, I haven't heard of it.

Yes, my Blue Crown was allegedly weaned to pellets and seed but she only ate sunflower seeds :( It took me nearly a year to get her on pellets. I've never fed seeds since. Pete ate seed for 28 years and yet he converted to pellets easier than my baby bird did.

[Pinkbirdy]

Sarah ,you have the best avitar [I love her] great nutrition advice . I like variety and am a big fan of mash and natural food mixes [you can make ahead of time]. If you can get them interested.

[Mirlito]

Thanks :) I try my best to give her a balanced diet thought I am working a lot and in the process of building my house with my fiancé so sometimes I can only do it at the weekends. Although I must confess pasta was a real winner with her :D

She has apples and oranges every day and chicken once a week. I make a lot of fruit smoothies too (100% natural) and she loves then. I usually add apples, grapes, strawberries and bananas.

I purchased the aviator harness it should arrive in a few days, will be fun seeing her reaction.

[Mirlito]

Poppy has transitioned really well from her formula to eating pellets and fresh fruit and veg. She will only eat 1 ml of the formula now in 1 day and not showing much interest at all which is great!

She loves water, absolutely goes crazy for running water and loves to bathe. I´m sure she´d love to every day if she had the chance, I normally let her twice a week because she loves it plus its in the high 70s here so there is no fear of her catching a chill.

Now the only thing we need to focus on is training her for the aviator harness and give her the proper cage she deserves once our aviary is completed for the cockatiels (breed soon)..;)

She is a little character, full of fun and energy and really loving. I have absolutely fallen in love with the pyrrhuras, would love to get a pineapple GCC in the future too, once the house is built.


Poppy after her bath this evening

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She loves to weet woo and tries her best to say "hello". :D

[Mirlito]

All nice and clean after her bath, she loves head rubs too :D

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[Mirlito]

Poppy is absolutely loving in here at the villa, she is really settled and chilled out. She is also eating a great variety of fruit and veg. We received her harness and will be training her shortly.

Stay tuned ;)

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Still in her temporary cage for the moment until the aviary is finished and she will have the cage that we had originally planned to use which is for conures.

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[CrazyBirdLady]

Poppy is so pretty!

[roxynoodle]

It sounds like she is doing very well and weaning nicely for you :)

[Mirlito]

Today has been strange, she hasn´t shown any interest in her pellets and will only eat grapes and the apples in her cage. Also she is making the "I want fed" sounds with the wing action.

I don´t know what to do.

[roxynoodle]

It's pretty normal for baby birds in the process of weaning to regress. If she is asking to be fed, then feed her. Don't worry about a weaning timeline as birds who are abundance weaned (meaning weaned on their own schedule no matter how long it takes) are generally healthier happier birds.

If she won't take the formula though consider that she may be ill (possibly a yeast infection in her crop) and take her to a vet. I think it's probably just that she's regressing a bit though.

[Mirlito]

Hi everyone I just wanted to give an update on Poppy, she has been given the all clear by my avian vet. She is now back at eating her NutriBird P15 original pellets as we took out the pastas and seed mixture only for the weekend as a treat and to give her a varied diet. She gets fruit and veg throughout the week too.

[Kalidasa]

Those pics of Poppy are so cute! I'm glad she's doing much better and beginning to enjoy herself.

[ACEPHONECHIC]

Poppy has such a bright red chest can I ask how old she was when the colours first appeared. Ruby My crimson belly does not have any of the brightness yet and she was born on the 14th January 2013.
Your Poppy is gorgeous so glad she is better

[Mirlito]

Thanks a lot, Poppy was born on the 30th of January 2013 though I don´t actually remember when those colours appeared.

Does you CBC make squeeky noises when snuggling? Mine doesn´t really fly much she´d rather sit with us and snuggle and play with my hair and climb under t shirts.

[Mirlito]

P.S she is a velcro bird, she generally plays in her cage doing stunts and what not but she loves to tunnel under our clothes and loves under the covers of the bed and chirps.

She also loves to snuggle in at our necks and snooze with her head under her wing or beak grinding or generally just chilling. I would say she was a calm bird but she can get hyper in her cage when she wants out.

[Honesty]

Poppy sounds adorable.

[ACEPHONECHIC]

Yes you are right Ruby loves to snuggle into my neck and she does make funny noises. She adores the hoover and sings along with it all the time. They are just adorable little birds

[Mirlito]

Hehehe if Poppy hears me at the door coming home from work she'll screech or 'yell'

Only problems I have with her is that she will only eat her fruits, pastas, seeds and pellets but will not eat any vegetables.

She has stopped stepping up on our fingers too on command

[roxynoodle]

You may have to experiment some with the veggies. I have found most birds prefer steamed ones to raw. Or some birds like little pieces and others like big chunks on skewers that they can eat like they are playing with toys. Also eat them in front of her and make yum yum sounds.

[Mirlito]

Thanks I will try that.

There was something that I was meaning to ask, is it normal for birds to eat around 5.30am? I hear Poppy eating her pallets around that time

[ACEPHONECHIC]

I give ruby a soaked for about 12 hours then 12 mins in the microwave, a pulse and soaking bean mix and she adores it. Spends alot of them as once they are cooked all the pulses are so. Plus her favourite foods fed by the lady who bred her is pomegrante, grapes and strawberries. She does tend to favour her bean mix and her fresh fruit more than the seed. I'm not a pellet person so I do not have any experience of that .
I also feed her a mixed veg as she loves sweetcorn. Keep trying and she will come to it. Even steel my Peraly Conure 15 years plus has just taken to the bean mix after never having anything like that for years.

[Mirlito]

Do you know where I can buy this? I am finding foods very different here especially brands compared to in Scotland. I'd like to try this though is it normal for her to eat at 5.30am and then go back to her bed?

Also does Ruby make noises when eating? Poppy does sometimes like a meep like she's hungry with her wings slightly dropped

[ACEPHONECHIC]

I am up by 2.30am as My other half goes to work early so the birds are up then. She is quite active then though and as you say very vocal. I think some of it is babyness they are still very young. If one of the larger greencheeks Pearl or Jade are doing her feather she really squells baby like but if Zak the Sun Conure does them he is more gentle and she is silent. But yes they are very vocal. I get my bean mix from a company called Tidymix Diets they do ship abroad. Link for carriage [Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks] Link for the food mix [Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks] It is Pulse and Rice Soaking mix. Hope that helps.
Anne

[roxynoodle]

Thanks I will try that.

There was something that I was meaning to ask, is it normal for birds to eat around 5.30am? I hear Poppy eating her pallets around that time

I think so. I stopped leaving food in the cages all night several years ago because I live in the country and sometimes get mice. I didn't want the mice going into the bird cages looking for food. But, before I stopped taking it out, they would get up and eat and then go back to sleep until I uncovered them.

[Mirlito]

Thats good was just wondering though i dont know about you guys but Poppy makes "meep meep" noises when eating shes noisy.

[ACEPHONECHIC]

I have listen to Ruby and yes she makes lots of different noises from the greencheeks etc, but have not partically heard any noises when she is eating. Crimson's seem to be alot more vocal than the others. Ruby sings along to the hoovering every day.

[Mirlito]

Poppy is turning into a right little character she is now chewing a lot especially her ladders, toys. She loves to lie on her back and sleep in your hand and if she gets the chance shower with you which is hilarious.

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[Debra]

Poppy is so pretty!

[Mirlito]

Thanks Debra :)

[ACEPHONECHIC]

Poppy is soo pretty I keep asking Ruby when she is going to get her lovely red belly like Poppy.