Sun Conure Care: Diet, Cage & Toys

Written by the Birdsville team. Last updated October 2026.

Sun conure care comes down to a varied diet, plenty of toys, a roomy cage and lots of attention. Sun conures are brilliant gold and orange parrots from South America, with big personalities to match their colour. They love attention, are quite easy to train when socialised young, and commonly live 25 to 30 years. This guide covers everything you need to keep a sun conure healthy and happy, with a full shopping list of the supplies we recommend, delivered Australia-wide by Petsville.

Sun conure with bright yellow and orange feathers — Sun conures are famous for their golden colour and big personalities.

Sun Conure Quick Facts

Scientific name: Aratinga solstitialis
Also known as: Sun Parakeet, Yellow Conure
Native range: north eastern South America, mainly northern Brazil and Guyana
Wild status: endangered
Adult length: around 30 cm
Adult weight: around 100 to 120 grams
Lifespan: commonly 25 to 30 years
Diet: quality seed and pellets, fresh fruit and vegetables, a few nuts
Minimum cage: 61 cm wide x 61 cm deep x 91 cm high
Sexing: DNA test, males and females look almost the same
Talking ability: a few words, with patience
Noise level: very loud
Experience level: best with some parrot experience

Sun Conure Shopping List

Everything in this guide is available from Petsville, which delivers Australia-wide, or in-store at Birdsville in Sydney.

Food

Birdsville Blends Tropical Small Parrot (https://petsville.com.au/products/birdsville-blends-tropical-small-parrot-500g)
Vetafarm South American Pellets (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-south-american-mix-350g)
Passwell Fruit & Nut for treats (https://petsville.com.au/products/passwell-fruit-nut-330g)

H3: Health

Vetafarm Multivet (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-multivet-50ml)
Vetafarm Calcivet (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-calcivet-50ml)
Vetafarm Soluvite D, for indoor birds (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-soluvite-d-25g)
Calcium perch (https://petsville.com.au/products/avian-care-trimming-calcium-perch-140mm-small)
Vetafarm Wormout Gel (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-wormout-gel-50ml)
Avitrol Mite & Lice Spray (https://petsville.com.au/products/fidos-avitrol-bird-mite-and-lice-spray-125ml)

Toys and Enrichment

Natural Chew Toy (https://petsville.com.au/products/nat-island-natural-chew-toy-birds)
BeakJoy Natural Signature Foraging Box, large (https://petsville.com.au/products/beakjoy-peak-play-natural-signature-blend-s)
Bainbridge Chew Me! Swing (https://petsville.com.au/products/bainbridge-chew-me-swing)
Foot toys (https://petsville.com.au/collections/foot-toys)

Cleaning

Vetafarm Avicare cage disinfectant (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-avicare-rtu-500ml)
Vetafarm Aviclens water cleanser (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-aviclens-water-cleanser-100ml)

Sun Conures as Pets
Sun Conure Cage Setup
Sun Conure Toys & Enrichment
Sun Conure Diet
Providing Water
Calcium and Vitamins
Behaviour & Handling
Training
Common Health Issues
Parasite Control
Health, Hygiene & Safety
Toxic & Dangerous Hazards
Sexing
Breeding and Hand Rearing
Holiday Care and Transport
Compatibility with Other Birds
Frequently Asked Questions
Recommended Vets and Links

Sun Conures as Pets

Sun conures make affectionate, playful and very entertaining pets for owners who can give them daily attention. They love being part of the family, and they’re quite easy to train as long as they’re socialised from a young age. They can learn to talk, but it takes a lot of patience and training.

They are loud, though. Sun conures have one of the most piercing calls of any small parrot, and they use it when they want attention. Think about your neighbours before you get one.

In the wild, sun conures live in flocks in north eastern South America. The World Parrot Trust lists them as endangered because of trapping and habitat loss (https://parrots.org/encyclopedia/sun-conure). Pet sun conures in Australia are bred in aviaries.

Here’s a tip from our team. Sun conures often grind their beaks, especially as they settle down to sleep. It’s a form of self grooming and a sign your bird feels relaxed, so there’s nothing to worry about.

Sun Conure Cage Setup

A sun conure needs a cage at least 61 cm wide, 61 cm deep and 91 cm high, and bigger is always better. Choose a strong steel cage with room for plenty of toys, perches of different thicknesses, and separate dishes for seed, pellets, fresh food and water. A calcium perch (https://petsville.com.au/products/avian-care-trimming-calcium-perch-140mm-small) helps keep nails and beak in shape.

Give your conure daily time out of the cage to climb, fly and play, ideally on a play stand.

Seasonal tip: In hot weather, keep the cage out of direct afternoon sun, offer a bath or a gentle misting, and remove fresh food before it spoils. In winter, keep the cage away from cold windows and draughts.

Sun Conure Toys & Enrichment

Sun conures need plenty of toys, because a bored conure soon develops bad habits like screeching and feather plucking, and those habits are hard to break. Conures love to chew, so natural wood toys are best. Offer a mix of shapes, colours, materials and sizes to keep your bird mentally stimulated.

Good choices include the Natural Chew Toy (https://petsville.com.au/products/nat-island-natural-chew-toy-birds), the large BeakJoy Natural Signature Foraging Box (https://petsville.com.au/products/beakjoy-peak-play-natural-signature-blend-s), which is made for birds like conures, the Bainbridge Chew Me! Swing (https://petsville.com.au/products/bainbridge-chew-me-swing), and our range of foot toys (https://petsville.com.au/collections/foot-toys).

Before taking over Birdsville, Ash worked as a zoo keeper, where daily enrichment for every animal was essential, and a sun conure needs the same. Rotate toys every week or so, so your bird always has something new to explore. See our Natural Bird Toys page (https://birdsville.net.au/natural-toys/) for more ideas.

Sun Conure Diet

A sun conure needs a varied diet of quality seed and pellets, fresh fruit and vegetables every day, and a few nuts as treats. Seed and water alone is never enough.

Seed

Our top seed pick is Birdsville Blends Tropical Small Parrot (https://petsville.com.au/products/birdsville-blends-tropical-small-parrot-500g), a nutrient rich blend of more than 19 ingredients, made for conures and other small and medium parrots. Birdsville Blends are bagged fresh on site with a high turnover, so the seed never sits on a shelf, and buying from the people who mix it means better value. Avoid many chain store mixes, which use low quality grains and filler seed that affect the health and vitality of your bird.

Pellets

Pellets should be a regular part of every sun conure’s diet, not an occasional extra. We recommend Vetafarm South American Pellets (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-south-american-mix-350g), made for South American parrots like conures. Feed pellets in a separate dish from the seed, and don’t refill either dish until both are finished.

Fruits & Veggie Guide

Fruits

Offer fruit every day: apple, pear, banana, mango, paw paw, berries, grapes, melon and pomegranate.

Vegetables

Sweet potato, carrot, broccoli, corn, peas, beans, capsicum, zucchini and dark leafy greens. Orange and dark green vegetables are rich in vitamin A, which conures need.

Treats

A few nuts, or Passwell Fruit & Nut (https://petsville.com.au/products/passwell-fruit-nut-330g), as training rewards.

Avoid Entirely

Avocado, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol and onion. Our team also leaves out lettuce, which has little nutrition.

Petsville delivers seed and supplies anywhere in Australia, except seed to WA and Tasmania because of quarantine laws.

Providing Water to Your Sun Conure

Fresh, clean water must be available to your sun conure at all times. Change it daily and scrub the dish. Aviclens (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-aviclens-water-cleanser-100ml) helps keep water clean between changes. Most sun conures love a bath, so offer one a few times a week.

Calcium and Vitamins for Sun Conures

Sun conures need a steady calcium source and a regular vitamin boost. Add Calcivet (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-calcivet-50ml) to the water a few days a week, or keep a calcium perch in the cage. Vetafarm Multivet (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-multivet-50ml) every few days helps cover nutrients missing from a seed diet. Indoor birds that don’t get direct sunlight also need vitamin D, such as Vetafarm Soluvite D (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-soluvite-d-25g), because window glass blocks the UV birds need.

Behaviour & Handling

Handle your sun conure gently every day in a calm setting. Let a new bird settle for a few days before handling it much, and keep early sessions short. Sun conures are social and love attention, but they can get nippy when overexcited or ignored. Never react to a bite by yelling. See our Parrot Biting (https://birdsville.net.au/parrot-biting/) and Squawking (https://birdsville.net.au/screaming-and-squawking-parrots-how-to-stop/) pages for help.

Training Your Sun Conure

Sun conures are clever and learn quickly with short, positive sessions. Reward good behaviour with a treat or praise, ignore unwanted behaviour, and never punish your bird. Start with step up, then try tricks and recall. Our How to Train Your Parrot page (https://birdsville.net.au/pet-bird-advice-and-training/bird-training-clicker-training-parrot-body-language/) explains more.

Common Health Issues in Sun Conures

Vitamin A Deficiency

Conures fed mostly seed often lack vitamin A, which can cause breathing problems, poor feathers and infections. Feed pellets and plenty of orange and dark green vegetables.

Feather Plucking and Screeching

Boredom, stress and poor diet are the main causes of plucking and constant screeching. Toys, foraging and daily company prevent most cases. See our Feather Plucking page (https://birdsville.net.au/pet-bird-advice-and-training/feather-plucking/).

Obesity and Fatty Liver

A diet heavy in sunflower seed and nuts can lead to weight gain and fatty liver disease. For a conure that’s overweight or has been diagnosed with fatty liver, we often recommend Birdsville Blends Healthy Parrot (https://petsville.com.au/products/birdsville-blends-healthy-parrot-500g) or Birdsville Blends Parrot (https://petsville.com.au/products/birdsville-blends-parrot-4kg), mixed with our Basic Budgie Mix (https://petsville.com.au/products/avigrain-seed-budgie-blue-2kg). Have an avian vet confirm fatty liver first.

Conure Bleeding Syndrome

Some conures develop a bleeding disorder, with bleeding from the nostrils or under the skin, often linked to a poor diet. It needs urgent care from an avian vet. For other conditions, see Common Bird Illnesses (https://birdsville.net.au/common-bird-illnesses/).

Parasite Control for Sun Conures

Worm your sun conure every 6 months. A newly bought bird should be wormed a few weeks to two months after it comes home. Vetafarm Wormout Gel (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-wormout-gel-50ml) goes in the drinking water, with the dose on the label.

For lice and mites, spray your bird, the cage, perches and toys with Avitrol Mite & Lice Spray (https://petsville.com.au/products/fidos-avitrol-bird-mite-and-lice-spray-125ml). Remove food and water first and avoid the eyes and mouth.

Keep any new bird in a separate cage for 4 to 6 weeks before it meets your other birds.

Health, Hygiene & Safety

Daily: change water, remove uneaten fresh food, and wipe feeders.
Weekly: wash dishes and perches, and rotate toys.
Monthly: disinfect the whole cage with Vetafarm Avicare (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-avicare-rtu-500ml).

For nail and wing care, see our Wing Clipping and Nail Clipping page (https://birdsville.net.au/wing-clipping-nail-clipping/).

Toxic & Dangerous Hazards

For foods to avoid, see the Avoid Entirely list in the Fruits & Veggie Guide above.

Around the home, keep your sun conure away from fumes from non stick (Teflon) cookware, aerosol sprays and scented candles. Also watch for electrical cords, lead or zinc objects, toxic plants, ceiling fans, open doors and windows, and cats and dogs. Always supervise time out of the cage.

Sexing Sun Conures

Sun conures are monomorphic, which means males and females look almost the same, so it’s very hard to tell them apart by eye. A DNA test through an avian vet is the most reliable and cost effective way to find out. Young sun conures are greener and duller than adults and colour up as they mature.

Breeding and Hand Rearing Sun Conures

Sun conures breed fairly easily in the right setup. They need a nest box placed high in the cage or aviary, filled with nesting material, because most parrots don’t build their own nests. Clutches are usually 3 to 4 eggs, incubated for about 23 to 27 days, and chicks fledge at around 7 to 8 weeks. Keep breeding pairs on a healthy diet throughout the breeding cycle.

If you hand rear, start at about 2 weeks old using a formula such as Passwell Hand Rearing Food (https://petsville.com.au/products/passwell-hand-rearing-food-300g). Here’s our team’s tip. Add a probiotic like Vetafarm Probotic (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-probotic-25g) to the formula, so your chick still gets the good gut bacteria it would normally get from its parents. See our Hand Raising Baby Birds page (https://birdsville.net.au/hand-raising-baby-birds/) for more.

Holiday Care and Transport

A sun conure needs fresh food, water and company every day, so arrange for someone to visit at least once daily while you’re away. Sydney owners can use our Bird Boarding service (https://birdsville.net.au/parrot-bird-boarding-sydney/). Always move your conure in a secure, ventilated carrier, and never leave it in a parked car. See our Carry Cages page (https://birdsville.net.au/carry-cages/).

Compatibility with Other Birds

Sun conures usually get along with other conures and similar sized birds, but introductions should be slow. Quarantine any newcomer for 4 to 6 weeks, then put the cages side by side so the birds can get used to each other before they share space. Never house conures with much smaller birds.

Sun Conure Frequently Asked Questions

What do sun conures eat?

Sun conures do best on a mix of quality seed and pellets in separate dishes, plus fresh fruit and vegetables every day and a few nuts as treats. Our top seed pick is Birdsville Blends Tropical Small Parrot, with Vetafarm South American Pellets. Never feed avocado, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol or onion.

Are sun conures loud?

Yes, very. Sun conures are among the loudest small parrots, with a piercing call they use most at dawn and dusk and whenever they want attention. Plenty of toys, foraging and daily company help, but they suit a house much better than an apartment with close neighbours.

Can sun conures talk?

Some can, but it takes a lot of patience. Sun conures usually learn only a few words, and their voices aren’t as clear as the bigger talking parrots. They’re better known for whistling and copying sounds. Daily, patient repetition with a young, social bird gives the best chance.

How long do sun conures live?

Sun conures commonly live 25 to 30 years with good care, and some live longer. A varied diet with pellets and vegetables, a clean cage, regular worming and plenty of enrichment all help. That’s a long commitment, so plan ahead for your bird’s future.

How can you tell if a sun conure is male or female?

Not reliably by looking. Male and female sun conures look almost the same, so the best way to know is a DNA test through an avian vet, which is simple and affordable. Young sun conures are greener and duller than adults and colour up as they mature.

Why does my sun conure grind its beak?

Beak grinding is normal and a good sign. Sun conures often grind their beaks as a form of self grooming, especially as they settle down to sleep, and it usually means your bird feels relaxed and content. It isn’t a sign of a problem and is nothing to worry about.

Sources

Size, range, clutch, fledging and conservation status: World Parrot Trust (parrots.org)
Diet, enrichment, worming, hand rearing and handling advice: Ash and the Birdsville team
Product details: Petsville product listings