A lot of us owned by conures have heard about conure bleeding sydnrome (CBS), but it's hard to find good, reliable information about it.

Even researchers are not certain whether CBS, which leads to weakness and drowsiness and ultimately to bleeding either externally (from the mouth or cloaca) or internally [1], is actually a single disease or a combination of different causes [2]. Some sources suggest it is actually viral, such as [3]. Often, the symptoms are similar to changes seen for lead poisoning. It often occurs in baby conures or birds under stress.

Though information about the causes for CBS is scarce, there seems to be little debate about the beneficial effects of calcium and vitamin K on prevention as well as treatment [2-6], though this is still lacking scientific validation [1].
Until recently, CBS was almost always fatal, but there has been reports on successful treatment when vitamin K and calcium supplements are added to the treatment [3]. This suggests, that ensuring a diet rich in those compounds could be beneficial for prevention of CBS.

If your conure exhibits signs of CBS, IMMEDIATELY CONTACT YOUR AVIAN VET.

Despite the lack of sound scientific proof, it doesn't hurt to keep your conure on a high vit K/Ca diet. (In addition, conures require a diet a little higher in fat and lower in protein than most birds diet [5]).

Vitamin K: (water soluble vitamin) [5]
*) ensures proper blood clotting; synthesis of prothrombin (the factor in blood that causes the clotting) occurs in the intestines
*) symptoms of deficiency: anemia, blood and vascular disorders (can also result from prolonged antibiotic use)
*) symptoms of toxicity: not reported in birds
*) found predominantly in green vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, asparagus, peas, green beans, kale

Calcium: (mineral) [5]
*) important for bone and muscle development, blood coagulation and nerve impulse transmission;
*) essential in egg production
*) connected with magnesium (co-active to ensure normal muscle contractions, also in the heart), and the vit D3 and phosphorous levels (poor calcium adsorption is often caused by high phosphorous levels which lower the vitamin D3 levels leading to improper Ca adsorption)
*) symptoms of deficiency: rickets, bone and joint problems, thin eggshells, egg binding, seizures
*) found in dark-green leafy veggies, broccoli (my and valo's best friend), dried beans and peas, cuttlebone, kale, and also yogurt and cheeses (I personally avoid feeding dairy products).

Some references:
[1] page name
[2] http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/awm/do...terNov2006.pdf
[3] Conures - Genus Aratinga
[4] EDUCATION
[5] The Healthy Bird Cookbook, R. Deutsch (2004)
[6] http://www.berkscountybirdclub.com/i...es/Conures.pdf