Trustdace Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 Ok you guys I finally got what I have been looking for...African Palm Nut Extract!!!! Some of you know how badly I have wanted to get some of this stuff. I have read over and over again about how beneficial palm nuts are when we include them in our bird's diet. So after getting ripped off once before and another $40 later I got a jar of it and I will see how it goes. Now, I did notice something very strange when I offered it to Congo. I got some of the extract out with a spoon and grabbed a dab of it on my finger. It is oily and very runny I guess because it was sitting in my mailbox for 8 hours or so before I got it. It was a usual hot and humid Miami summer day that's why the extract was so liquid, I digress. Back to the point, I opened Congo's cage and let her taste the extract from my finger and she did not like it! She was acting spooked and skittish. I washed my hands off and I went back to her cage and I told her to step up but she didn't. I reached in to grab her and she bit the crap out of me drawing blood and all!! I will post a pic of the bite. She was halfway out of the cage and again I tried to get her to step up but she was hissing and lounging at me. My wife came over to see what the comotion was about and she was in shock to see how Congo was acting. At this point I wanted to calm her down and get her back in the cage so I took a few bites so I could try and grab her but I couldn't hamdle her she was agressive. Finally I took off my shirt threw it over her and I was able to grab her and stick her back in the cage. She's still acting weird and is very agressive. She has never EVER bit me or acted like she is right now. Is it the extract?? Please guys I need some help:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trustdace Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 Here's the pic of my hand. It's not horrible but it did hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
she Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Charlie has only been very agressive to me when he has been ill or injured causing him to be in pain and feeling bad.If you are at all unsure about Congos health have her checked out by a vet.It also could be she was spooked by the new smell of the palm oil. I hope the situation resolves itself soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Palm oil isn't supposed to be fed by hand. It's usually put on something that the bird likes to eat or it's put in a dish mixed in with other food that the bird eats. As far a gooy and sticky, the palm oil has to be heated until it's the consistency of olive oil Palm oil before being heated to the proper consistency Palm oil after being heated to proper consistency. Notice the change in color after being heated. That;s done by putting a certain amount in an old seasoning bottle, heating in microwave for 30 seconds and letting it cool to room temp before being used. On the jar it should tell you what to do in order to use it which is sticking the whole jar in running hot water until internals melt.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/08/16 21:10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Char Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 I know it is not really funny but I find it kinda funny that you were so obsessed with getting the stuff and then this happens. Sorry. As for the encounter... Let me ask you this..Did you absolutely have to get her back in the cage at that very moment? Wouldn't it have been better to let her cool off a bit before trying to handle her again. It seems to be you just made it all worse and probably damaged her trust by grabbing her that way. You also said that she was acting skittish and refused to step up so you "reached in and grabbed her". She was refusing to step up because she was scared by something. Whether it was the smell or something else. Whisper has never bitten me but I am pretty sure that if she was already spooked and skittish about something and I "reached in and grabbed her" I would get bitten too. Also if you had backed off after the bite and let her calm down, she would probably have gotten over it a lot quicker. Now you have scared the heck out of her. I am not trying to be critical just trying to help. Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/08/16 21:55 Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/08/16 22:00<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/08/16 22:02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trustdace Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 Yeah I probably made things worse and I should've reacted differently:( It's just that Congo has always been such a sweet bird really. She is back to normal now and is actually eating the extract spread over her veggies. I am still wondering what would have made her act that way?? She was fine the whole day just until I gave her the evtract???:dry: :dry: :dry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Char Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Sometimes it is hard to tell what spooks them. Whisper was scared out of her mind one day because of a shirt I had on. It was a jungle print with big flowers on it and when I looked at it I realized the flowers looked like big eyes. You just never know. The important thing is how we react and be sensitive to what is happening with them. I realized immediately that thee shirt was scaring her and took it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eckobird Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Oh dear trustdace, that bite looks like it hurts! That is so weird that Congo acted like that, especially since shes never biten you before. How is she doing today? Dave007 wrote: As far a gooy and sticky, the palm oil has to be heated until it's the consistency of olive oil Dave, I didn't know this. I have been using RPO for a while now and I have never heated it up before, it doesn't say that is has to be heated on the bottle that I have. Is it ok that I don't heat it or does it have to be heated??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 I don't think it "HAS" to be heated but it goes over food better if it is in a liquid state. I usually use mine straight out of the container but then I put it in something hot that ends up melting it. As far as the bite was concerned Roger, you scared her some when offering the extract and it just escalated from there, she needed some time to calm down and you immediately tried to get her to step up and she was having nothing to do with it so the bite happened. Once their "hackles are up" like that give them a little time to settle down before doing anything with them. That does look like a nasty bite but if you play it right the next time it may not happen again but glad to hear she is back to her normal self. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 caitb2007 Well, palm oil isn't liked by lots of birds. Some do, many don't. Many birds have to be fooled into eating it. In order to put it on food that they normally eat but won't eat if there's oil on it, it has to be put into a consistency that can be put on to the food they do enjoy. Pellets are a good example--very liquidy, thin palm oil can be dripped on to pellets and the pellets will absorb the oil and the birds will eat the pellets. They get the benefits of the pellets and oil all at the same time. Now there's loads of very young birds here who may have taken to it because they were very young but there's older birds who haven't had it before and have no intentions of accepting it. In the wild, palm nuts are surrounded by this oil which is on the thin side because the nuts have been in the sun all the time thereby softening the oil that surrounds the nut. The bird has to eat the oil to get to the nut. But for anyone who's bird accepts it without heating it, that's fine. The method I use works perfectly. None of my birds like palm oil but I do know they're getting it whether they like it or not. The other day, someone on one of the boards asked what the ingredients were that benefit the birds. It's vitamin A and Vitamin E and will not stop any pluckers from continuing that habit.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/08/17 20:07 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Hope your hand is better now Roger and that Congo has calmed down and all is well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trustdace Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Thanks for all the advice you guys. All is well now. Like Dave says I don't think Congo likes or accepts the extract. But I heat it and spread it over her veggies and she's eating it whether she wants to or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsGardeness Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Sorry to see you got bit like that Roger. I've been bitten by a couple of my Pionus parrots in the past too - hurts like heck at first, hmmm? I'm better at reading their body language now. Glad to hear Congo is eating the Palm Oil now. I'm going to start giving it to my Toebie as well. Hope you hand is healing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Hope your hand is better Roger. Glad you figured out a way to get Congo to accept his palm oil! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eckobird Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Thank you Dave, your information helped me a lot! Ecko just loves RPO and would lick it from the jar if I let him. He does not like his pellets much so I think I just found the solution for him to eat his pellets. I should of known lol. Thank you sooo much. Karma for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Dave is the RPO Guru, of course he is on everything else as well. :-) Dayo HATES RPO. As Dave said, we must mix it in with foods like scrambled eggs, oatmeal, drip it on pellets etc. If it's not "masked", there is no way of getting him to eat it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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