I was having breakfast with my conure the other day and as I was peeling my orange, I realized I had never given him an orange before.
He kept flapping over and seemed very interested, but I really wasn’t sure if it would be safe for him to eat.
Not to mention the fact that it was my orange!
Since he seemed so excited about it, though, I gave him something else to keep him occupied and decided I would look into whether he could eat oranges.
So, can conures eat oranges?
Yes, conures can eat oranges, although sparingly. They are really nutritionally rich and have lots of great benefits as a snack, but it shouldn’t become too big a part of their diet. This can cause problems as they are high in sugar and also highly acidic. In moderation, they’re a great snack.
So, the short answer is yes, conures can eat oranges.
The longer answer is that they can, but that you need to be very careful about exactly how much they eat.
Though they are highly beneficial in some ways, this can have the opposite effect if you overfeed them on oranges.
Let’s look further into this.
Are oranges good for conures?
Yes, they are, in lots of ways.
Firstly, don’t underestimate the value of a good, tasty snack.
It can do wonders for their mood and overall attitude, and they will love oranges for this reason.
They are tasty and rich, and make a nice change from seeds.
Beyond that, though, there are many specific benefits of oranges, nutritionally speaking.
They are a great source of fiber, for one thing.
Fiber is essential for your parrot’s diet, and helps everything move through their gut smoothly.
Oranges are also a great source of antioxidants.
Antioxidants prevent the formation of free radicals in your conure’s cells, which can damage them over time.
Vitamin C is plentiful in oranges, and this is one of the best antioxidants out there.
There are also many health vitamins and minerals in oranges.
They are a great source of calcium, which is essential for the health of the muscles and bones.
They also contain a good amount of potassium, which serves a wide range of functions from blood health to the functioning of the immune system.
So, as you can see, they are very healthy and beneficial in many ways.
It’s important, though, to understand the importance of moderation—so let’s look at the caveats, here.
Are oranges bad for conures?
No, they are not inherently bad for conures.
They don’t pose any specific threat and are not toxic or dangerous.
That said, they can certainly be problematic if you aren’t careful of moderation.
Given the fact that they are so nutrient-rich, oranges need to be fed only in small amounts.
Your conure is only small, and once it has eaten a small amount, it has gotten all the benefit that it really can from it.
Any more would wind up being problematic.
It could lead to digestive problems, and the high acidity in oranges and citrus fruit, in general, can be painful for them.
At most, feed them oranges once or twice a week, in small amounts.
While they are typically smart enough to know when to stop, you should nonetheless not give them more than they should be eating.
Swap oranges out for other things during the rest of the week to provide them the best balance in their diet.
There are several parts to an orange, though, so let’s look at whether all of it is safe.
Can conures eat orange peel?
Yes, they can, although there’s not a great deal of benefit to doing so.
They do have some nutrients, but obviously far less than the fruits.
For the most part, unless they have nothing else to eat, they’re unlikely to be that excited about eating orange peel.
That said, conures are highly individual, and yours may seem to love orange peel, for one reason or another.
If so, let them have at it! they will get some benefit from it, and you’ll have recycled the peel.
Ultimately, they are totally safe for conures, so you have nothing to worry about there.
Just be sure to give them the actual fruit when you can, since this is where most of the benefit is.
Can conures eat orange seeds?
Yes, they can also eat the seeds.
They probably won’t really notice the seeds for the most part as they are quite small, but they are nonetheless safe and come with some benefits.
After all, a conure’s diet is mostly seeds, so orange seeds are a good addition to that.
You don’t need to worry about removing the seeds or anything, just let your conures have at them.
Moderation still applies, though—don’t feed them orange seeds constantly.
For the most part, they will do better with other seeds, and the actual orange fruit is better for them.
Conclusion
Oranges are a really great snack for your conure, then, but you need to be very strict about how you moderate them in their diet.
Be sure to provide your bird a wide range of snacks on top of their regular diet, in order to maximize balance and make sure they aren’t oversaturated with a single kind of nutrient.
They are rather sensitive in terms of dietary needs, so be sure to carefully incorporate oranges with this in mind.