Can Conures Eat Strawberries? [4 Benefits]

Earlier today I was watching a national geographical documentary and saw some cockatiels enjoying fruits in the wild. I was curious whether conures can enjoy strawberries given that they too are parrots and almost the same size as cockatiels.

I did some research on that topic, and here is what I learned.

Can conures eat strawberries? Yes, Conures can eat strawberries plus their seeds. Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamins, water, and minerals for your conures. Mix strawberries with other berries such as blueberries, and raspberries to add variety and provide a balanced diet.

When feeding any fruit to your conures or any other parrot, remember that several pieces of several fruits are better than one whole fruit. Fruits, vegetables, and greens should make up about 20-25% of the conure’s daily diet.

Nutritional value of Strawberries

The table below shows the nutritional value of strawberries adapted from this source

Name	Amount	Unit
Water	90.95	g
Energy	32	Kcal
Protein	0.67	g
Total lipid (fat)	0.3	g
Carbohydrate, by difference	7.68	g
Fiber	2	g
Sugars	4.89	g
Calcium, Ca	16	mg
Phosphorus, P	24	mg
Sodium, Na	1	mg
Vitamin C	58.8	mg
Iron, Fe	0.41	mg
Magnesium, Mg	0.386	mg
Potassium, K	153	mg
Vitamin A,	12	IU

Are strawberries good for conures?

Strawberries Hydrate conures

Aves veterinarians advise that you should always have a bowl of clean and fresh water for the conures every single day.

Keeping conures properly hydrated will ensure that their metabolism is functioning properly. While water is necessary, fruits such as strawberries and other berries and vegetables are packed with a water content that can help to keep the conures hydrated.

As a result, always strive to offer fresh fruits which have more nutrients and water content as opposed to dried or canned fruits.

Strawberries are a good source of vitamins for conures

Vitamins form a very important part of nutrients that conures need to maintain their health. In fact deficiency of some of these vitamins can lead to health complications that can lead to lethal implications such as death.

Strawberries are packed with various minerals such as vitamin A which is very essential to conures health. In fact, research shows that most caged birds are highly prone to vitamin A deficiencies, especially birds that are fed an all-seed diet.

This can be attributed to the fact that the vitamin value of seeds is very poor.

Vitamin A is essential in boosting the immune system and preventing respiratory and digestive system infections.

Vitamin A specifically its precursor beta carotene has been associated with brightening the color of most parrots including conures.

Specifically, parrots are colored red or yellow, this means that if you want your conure’s yellow color to become more vibrant you should make sure they do not miss their fruit diet.

If your conure is refusing to eat fruits, there are several pellets in the market that are formulated after blending several fruits together and you can buy these and feed them to your conure as you try to make them accept fresh fruits. Check out this brand from Amazon.

Vitamin A is also essential for bone growth, and the healthy function of the secretory glands plus normal reproduction function.

Strawberries are also a good source of vitamin C, while not all birds have a direct need for vitamin C. The crimson sun conure is one variety of conure that needs vitamin C in its diet.

Vitamin C facilitates the absorption of iron in the gut, most birds can process vitamin C from the liver using glucose and will only require dietary sources only when they are suffering from liver disease.

That said vitamin C deficiency leads to poor wound healing, excessive bleeding, and weakened bones.

strawberries provide conures with Minerals

Like vitamins minerals form a very important part of the diet of conures. The deficiency of some of these minerals can lead to adverse health complications such as egg impactions, weak bones, and poor reproduction.

While you cannot use fruits such as strawberries as the sole source of minerals, when used in combination with veggies and a high-quality pellet, you can be sure that your conure will never run into nutrient deficiencies.

Strawberries provide both of the two most important minerals in birds Namely calcium and phosphorus. However, the calcium to phosphorus in strawberries is not ideal.

Calcium and phosphorus affect each other negatively, high phosphorus will impact the absorption of calcium, therefore, leading to its shortage.

Therefore, experts recommend that laying, young, and injured birds should have a calcium to phosphorus ratio of 2: 1 respectively and 1.5: 1 for adult healthy birds.

Calcium and phosphorus are used in the making of the skeletal structure of the birds. Conures fed an all-seed diet are the ones most prone to suffering from calcium and phosphorus deficiency.

Other minerals found in strawberries include magnesium, potassium, and iron among others. While birds rarely suffer from the deficiency of these minerals they should all form an important part of the conure diet.

conures get Antioxidants from strawberries

Just like in humans antioxidants helps with reversing the effects of oxidative stress, which causes cellular damage.

Strawberries contain vitamin C and selenium which are some of the antioxidants that help with reversing oxidative stress and boosting reproduction and the immune system.

How to feed strawberries to conures

The first step when feeding strawberries or any other fruit is to buy or use fresh fruits, that are also organically grown to avoid poisoning. Follow the following steps.

Since it is hard to tell whether fruits have been organically grown or not, especially when you are buying them from a local grocery store or supermarket. Wash them thoroughly to remove chemicals or other pesticides that may be harmful to the conures.

You can either feed them s whole or cut them into pieces. I would advise cutting it into pieces so that you can offer more varieties of fruits. It is better to feed several pieces of several varieties of fruits than to feed one whole fruit of one variety of fruit.

Remember to remove the uneaten foods at the end of the day to avoid contamination of your conure’s cage.

What fruits can conures not eat?

Conures should not eat the following fruits avocados, pears and apples, and pits (such as cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, and plums) without removing the seeds and pits as they contain cyanide that is harmful to conures.

Summary

While strawberries are good for conures make sure you do not offer them solely, at least mix them with other fruits to form a balanced diet for your parrot. There are pellets that have been made after blending several fruits to make well-balanced fruit-flavored pellets that your conure can enjoy. Check this Brand over at Amazon.