Questions About Palm Nuts

[Elvenking]

Okay...so here are a few questions I cannot seem to get concensus on:

 

1.) When is it okay to give your Grey a Queen Palm Nut? (Green, ripe, etc.)

2.) They arrived green, what do I do. Will they ripen? Do I have to refrigerate or freeze, if so when?

 

 

I have never had palm nuts so I am not sure of all this. Someone even said green ones can be toxic but I was also told that feeding them green is fine. Would love help dispelling all this.

[lovethatgrey]

I think it would be a very good idea to contact the company who sold you the palm nuts.

[Elvenking]

We did have a discussion this afternoon and we came to an agreement majority that green nuts are still okay. I just do not know if they will change color on my counter or if I should refrigerate\freeze them babys and when. I am wathing them so they don't dry out...but I am curious.

 

Issac loves these little things. I am also wondering how many are okay on average. So if anyone has an idea...do tell. Thanks.

[lovethatgrey]

If I were in your situation, I would limit the offering to 2-3 per day.

I think they can be used as a complementary "enrichment food" to an existing balanced diet but I wouldn't allow him to fill himself up on mostly these Palm nuts.

[Elvenking]

Okay cool...I only gave him a couple today after giving him 3 yesterday. OMG...you should hear him right now..he is making so many vocalizations I ahve never heard before...I love it!! Not that it has anything to do with palm nuts...but you should hear my ears. He is working on his talking...zero doubt about that.

[Joolesgreyuk]

I give Beau 2 - 3 (depending on size) twice a week, I wouldn't offer too many as they are very high in fat. I treat them as I would a treat. As for green ones, I've never seen green ones and would imagine they aren't ripe. I'm not sure how you would ripen them - maybe in a sunny window?

[danmcq]

They will ripen at room temperature.

They will turn an orangish color.

Once they are ripe, bag and freeze them or they will spoil quickly. I suspect thats why the supplier sent them to you green.

 

Personally, I would not feed green palm fruit to my Grey. As I said in my other post, they contain nuerotoxins. If you watch birds in the wild, they never eat unripened fruit, including Palm Fruit. I have wtached several queen palms around my neighborhood and the birds feed on them when ripe.

 

I feed my Grey 2 to 3 palm nuts 3x a week.

 

I limit them due to the Red Palm Oil I mix in with his foods.

Edited April 28, 2010 by danmcq

[Elvenking]

Thank you for all the responses, I will leave them out until ripe. I will also limit these treats.

[dw310]

I kept three of these palm nuts on my counter for more than a week. (I froze the rest earlier--which has probably ruined them, as they were still green. I froze them as they looked like they were starting to wither.) Anyway, one of the nuts on the counter turned slightly orange, and the other two just "withered" and stayed green. Any thoughts on how to get these things to ripen? Thanks!

[Elvenking]

That is a good question....looks like ripening is hit or miss to me. I left mine out for a good 4 or 5 days and I didn't see any signs of ripening. I wrote the place i got them from and asked how I should care for them. They just said that it's okay to feed them green and that they do tend to wrinkle a little bit. But some just don't look good any more so I threw some away. They also told me to refrigerate them and\or freeze them. I am wondering if there is any special location they would ripen better in.

Edited May 3, 2010 by Elvenking

[dw310]

I left mine out about 9-10 days, then froze them. They did not turn orange in that length of time. Of the three I left out 2+ weeks, one turned orangish in color. The other two withered. I've decided not to give these to Morgan. I gave him 3 green ones when they first were delivered, but he never touched them, so I don't see that it's any big loss to him.

[crossfit]

A lot of fruits won't ripen if picked too green. I am guessing that is what is happening. I think I read once that apples give off a gas that make other fruits ripen faster. I would do a search on that to confirm it and if true, maybe put them in a paper bag with an apple?

[dhorje]

I have never seen a green palm nut in the plantation. Only the ripe ones are harvested.

 

I feed 1 nut 5X per week.

[dw310]

Where do you get them? Thanks.

[Elvenking]

You can get queen palm nuts on the Bird Paradise web store. Issac loves them! Keep em busy for like 20 mins a piece.

 

http://www.mybirdstore.com/FOOD_TREATS_FRESH_PALM_NUTS.html

 

I personally have never seen one ripen yet, they always seem to come green from there...however, he loves them quite a bit, and he has figured out how to get the nut out of the middle.

[dw310]

I got mine from Bird Paradise, but they weren't ripe, not did they ever ripen. They just withered. I'm wondering where dhorje gets ripened ones. Thanks!

[dhorje]

Where do you get them? Thanks.

 

My mom in law has a plantation. I can collect the nuts as many as I like.

[dw310]

Nice!!!! ;-)