Help! One of my pair is overweight!

[Perroquet]

Just did a weight check: My black-capped green cheek conure is normal weight at 72g, my turquoise green cheek is 100g They share a cage and food bowls (and my chubby one tends to get first dibs).
They have a healthy diet: Breakfast is homemade mash/chop, heavy on vegetables, dinner is a few Nutriberries and Roudybush pellets (limited quantities). Snacks are fresh veggie skewers with mostly peppers. Treats for training and getting into cage are walnuts, safflower seeds, pomegranate seeds. Fruit is very limited.
How do I put one bird on a diet when they share everything? Grateful for any tips from anyone who has been in this situation.

 

[Zara]

Sometimes encouraging more exercising by strategically placing toys and food out in the room can help.

Maybe other members might have more ideas...

 

[Perroquet]

Sometimes encouraging more exercising by strategically placing toys and food out in the room can help.

Maybe other members might have more ideas...

Thanks, I should add that they are fully flighted and spend about 8 hours a day out of the cage in a large living space, so they both get plenty of exercise already.

 

[Emma&pico]

Do they forage? Maybe up the foraging only have veggies in their bowls and have pellets and rest in foraging toys so they have to work for food

I don’t know if @Mizzely or @Pixiebeak as any ideas

can you weigh food maybe if they have a lot of time out could you make sure they have separate feeding times

 

[Perroquet]

Do they forage? Maybe up the foraging only have veggies in their bowls and have pellets and rest in foraging toys so they have to work for food

I don’t know if @Mizzely or @Pixiebeak as any ideas

can you weigh food maybe if they have a lot of time out could you make sure they have separate feeding times

Yeah, the chubby one is a pro at foraging and will eat all the seeds/Nutriberries I hide, gets to them first , and I've tried separate bowls and feeding times, but she always muscles her way in first, too.

 

[Pixiebeak]

Is the chubby one female? She might be deciding to lay eggs ...

 

[April]

@webchirp

 

[Perroquet]

Is the chubby one female? She might be deciding to lay eggs ...

Both are female (bonded pair, I rescued them together). Yes to eggs -- she's already on #4 this season (I'm already working on it, in touch with the vet, too)

 

[webchirp]

Oooh you have a Zephyr and Jewel bird. Jewel has gotten up to 110 at her heaviest. They are both currently on thyroid meds but I had to increase zephyrs meds and I need to make them a large flight for extra exercise. Just be careful the other baby doesn’t get into the thyroid meds if you go that route.

 

[~Drini~]

Are you sure she is overweight and not just large? Has a vet confirmed this? Some individuals can be at the far upper end of the spectrum without actually being overweight, just like some humans are taller and therefore weigh more. How does her keel bone feel?

If you are concerned, I would go to the vet and then proceed from there before you make any changes.

 

[Perroquet]

Are you sure she is overweight and not just large? Has a vet confirmed this? Some individuals can be at the far upper end of the spectrum without actually being overweight, just like some humans are taller and therefore weigh more. How does her keel bone feel?

If you are concerned, I would go to the vet and then proceed from there before you make any changes.

Thanks, that's a good point. Have never felt her keel bone - she's a rescue, used to be terrified of humans and hands, but now tolerates stepping up. She's very sweet, but I'd lose a few fingers if I tried to touch her