I’ve often felt that plums are one of the more underappreciated popular fruits.
Of course, they are very common and widely eaten, but they don’t get the same press as apples, oranges, or bananas, for instance.
For those of us who do love them, it’s natural to want to share them with our pets—so can conures eat plums?
Yes, conures can eat plums. They are totally safe and rich in many health vitamins and minerals. That said, moderation is always important, and plums are highly nutrient rich, and your conure only needs a small amount in its diet. But plums are a great addition to their diet as a whole.
So, yes, your conure can eat plums in the right moderation.
Don’t get carried away with this delicious fruit, as they will love it, but they’ll quickly become bored if you overfeed them on any one thing.
Let’s find out more.
Are plums good for conures?
Yes, they are, in a great many ways.
For one thing, your conures are bound to love the taste, and this in itself has a lot of benefits.
Your conure will thrive on a wide and balanced diet, filled with many different foods.
This will do wonders for its mood, and plums can be a great part of that.
And this will not only have an effect on its mood—the mood boost will also have quantifiable effects on its physical health.
Beyond that, of course, plums are packed with nutritional benefits that will be great for your conure.
Most simply, they are a great source of vital fiber.
Fiber is one of the most important parts of your conure’s diet, which they will get from their fruits and vegetables.
Plums are really great for this, too, promoting overall digestive health.
Further, plums are rich in essential vitamins and minerals.
They are packed with healthy vitamins.
These include vitamin A, C and K. Vitamin A helps to maintain healthy vision, as well as promoting growth and development and encouraging a healthy immune system. Vitamin C, perhaps even more vital, is a powerful antioxidant.
These compounds prevent the formation of free radicals in your parrot’s cells, which cause oxidative damage over time.
Antioxidants are essential to a healthy conure.
Plums are also great for mineral content, too.
They contain healthy amounts of potassium, copper, and manganese.
Potassium is really important for the regulation of fluids in the body’s cells.
Copper works with the iron in your conure’s body to aid in the formation of red blood cells, as well as maintaining blood vessels, nerves, and bones.
So, plainly, plums are an incredibly rich treat for your conures—but there are, as ever, important caveats to keep in mind.
Are plums bad for conures?
No, plums are not bad for conures—at least not on their own.
They aren’t toxic or poisonous, and they don’t pose any specific, immediate danger.
That said, they do pose some dangers if you don’t add them to the conure’s diet in the right way.
Moderation, as I mentioned, is the name of the game.
Plums are incredibly rich in all sorts of nutrients, and your conure is only a small animal.
Thus, it only needs to eat a small amount.
If it eats too much, its body will have trouble digesting it.
Thus, it will sit undigested in the gut, leading to pain, cramps and even diarrhea.
Fresh fruit is a really important part of your conure’s diet, but it is nonetheless a relatively small part.
Plums should be seen as an occasional treat to spice up your conure’s menu.
How much, then, should they eat, and how often?
How much plum can conures eat?
It does depend on the kind of plum, as some are a lot larger than others.
Thus, it’s usually best to cut them up a small handful of slices to eat.
Slicing it up makes it a bit easier for them to get at it, too.
At most, you should do this once or twice a week.
Swap the plum out for other things during the rest of the week.
This way, you’ll achieve the best possible variety of nutrients, but perhaps more importantly, you’ll just stop the conure from getting bored!
How should you prepare the plum, then, besides slicing it?
Can conures eat raw plum?
Yes, conures can eat raw plum, and this is the best way to give them plum.
The diet you give them at home should be, as far as you can manage, the best imitation of their wild diet.
Obviously, everything they eat in the wild would be raw.
With juicy fruits like plums, a great deal of the nutrition is lost in the cooking process, too.
So, you should definitely give your conures raw plum slices.
This is the best, most nutritious and most enjoyable way for them to eat it.
Can conures eat cooked plum?
If you do have cooked plum, which not many recipes call for, then likelihood is it will still be fine for your conure to eat.
That does depend on what it was cooked in, though.
Oils, spices and herbs can be dangerous for your conure, so carefully consider that.
This, of course, is just assuming you have left over cooked plum from something you made.
There’s certainly no benefit to cooking the plum just to give it to your conure.
As I said, it will lose a lot of its nutrition, not to mention texture and flavor, in the cooking process.
Give them raw plum.
Can conures eat plum flesh?
Yes, your conure can eat plum flesh, and this is the part it will enjoy the most.
Fortunately, it’s also the most nutritious part!
The flesh is what will attract them, as it is juicy and contains most of the flavor.
The flesh is totally safe for them, though, of course, the issue of moderation still applies.
They shouldn’t eat too much of the flesh, or they will become bloated and over-nourished.
What about the skin?
Can conures eat plum skin?
Yes, they can also eat the skin.
They will most likely be less interested in the skin than in other parts of the fruit, though.
They’ll eat it getting to the flesh, but otherwise they will be keener on the flesh.
That said, the skin is uniquely nutritious, so it’s certainly worth letting them have it.
What about the stones?
Can conures eat plum stones?
No, conures cannot eat plum stones.
Firstly, they are just too big.
Your conure would have a tough time swallowing it and an even tougher time breaking it up.
Further, the pits of plums are actually mildly toxic.
It would take likely a lot more than your conure would be willing to eat to do it any real harm, but it’s best nonetheless to be cautious.
Don’t give your conure the plum with the stones still in it.
There’s more than one kind of plum, though.
Can conures eat Damson plums?
Yes, conures can eat Damson plums.
These are some the most common and widely available across the world, featuring an elongated egg shape fruit.
They are perfectly safe and nutritious for your conure, so if you can get hold of them,
Damson plums are a great choice.
They’re also relatively easy to grow even in colder climates, so maybe add them to your garden!
Can conures eat elephant heart plums?
Another popular plum type is the elephant heart.
These are certainly much rarer than Damson plums, and often look more like nectarines than plums.
If you can get them, at the farmer’s market or an organic grocery store, they are still highly nutritious and tasty for your conure.
What about Moyer plums?
Can conures eat Moyer plums?
Moyer plums are another of the long, egg-shaped variety of plum.
Again, they’re not quite as popular as Damson plums, but are nonetheless quite common to find.
More importantly for our purposes, they are also perfectly safe for your conure, and make a great addition to their diet.
Though there are more than a few things to keep in mind, then, when giving your conures plums, it is ultimately a great addition to their diet.
They are rich in many health nutrients and will make an exciting treat that your conures are bound to love.
Just remember moderation, and to remove the pit far away from them.
If you do this, plums are great for your conures.