Palm Nuts

[lindaleekoh]

Recieved the fids order of palm nuts today from mybirdsafestore.com!! Excited to see how they like them . Packaging was fabulous...came with instructions on cleaning and the website even had recipe for homemade vege wash and came in nice packaging and a few gift toys. We ordered a few of each kind available...and my husband said we actually have some of those palms nuts here locally on palms. Does anyone here feed palm nuts to their fids...and if so how do they like them?

[KimKim]

I ordered all three kinds too from mybirdsafestore as well. So far my grey has not been able to crack the nut part open... This is his first time with them. He get off the outer cover and then the stringy stuff. He is working on the big green one now, it is kind of to big though, I check up on him soon to see what he did to that one. How is yours doing with them?

[KimKim]

I have an update already, I had to help him get inside the big green palm nut. They are really tuff. Maybe I will wait a few more days to give him one to see if they soften. But I do not think he ate any of the white stuff on the inside, he just chewed it up, same with all the others...

[Azzie]

Lol check out the reply I got via email, when I wanted to find out if I was able to get these items into New Zealand for my bird:

 

Hi Ilja,

The whole fruit of this species is not permitted entry into New Zealand at this stage, however if you wish to import only the dried kernel of the Palm oil (Elaeis guineensis) plant this may be imported providing it meets the requirements of the import health standard (IHS) - importation of seed for sowing (link below).

http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/files/ihs/155-02-05.pdf

The nut (seed kernel) of the palm oil plant will have to meet the basic requirements of section 2.2.2 (page 12) of this IHS along with the specific requirements of the Elaeis schedule (page 63) which states:

Seed covered in a fleshy pericarp will not be permitted entry into New Zealand.

(ii) Approved exporting countries

All countries except Guam, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands.

Documentation

Phytosanitary certificate: a completed phytosanitary certificate issued by the NPPO of the exporting country must accompany all consignments of Elaeis seeds for sowing imported into New Zealand. Before a phytosanitary certificate is issued, the NPPO of the exporting country must be satisfied that the following activities required by the MAF have been undertaken.

The Elaeis seeds for sowing have:

been inspected in accordance with appropriate official procedures and found to be free of any visually detectable regulated pests.

AND

been produced in an approved country and have not been produced in Guam, the Philippines or the Solomon Islands.

AND

been produced in a "Pest free area", free from Coconut cadang-cadang viroid.

If satisfied that the pre-shipment activities have been undertaken, the exporting country NPPO must confirm this by providing the following additional declarations to the phytosanitary certificate:

"The Elaeis seeds for sowing in this consignment have:

- been produced in an approved country and have not been produced in Guam, the Philippines or the Solomon Islands.

AND

been sourced from a "Pest free area", free from Coconut cadang-cadang viroid.

 

For further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

Brad Chandler

Technical Support Officer

Plant Imports & Exports Group I Border Standards Directorate

MAF Biosecurity New Zealand I Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry

Pastoral House I 25 The Terrace I PO Box 2526 I Wellington

DDI: 04 894 5541 I

[KimKim]

Is that for any palm nut?

[Azzie]

I would say so, as NZ has incredibly strict import standards because it has so many unique animals and plants.

[lindaleekoh]

Well...tried the Queen Palm nut and well both Dante' and Flame(sun conure) acted scared of them...which is strange cause Flame loves to eat everything..lol. You are right they are really hard. I had my husband crack 2 open with a hammer . Dante' still had no interest in them at all however Flame did eat them after they were cracked open. Came home tonight to find the ones I left in Dante's treat bowl untouched..and as for Flame.. his were lying on the bottom of his cage. Maybe they need to rippen more?? Not sure.... Guess we will keep tryin'. Keep me updated on how Babalu is doing with the palm nuts. Thanks:)

[lindaleekoh]

Wow...some strict rules! That's great though that NZ finds the natural habitants important enough to protect...wish other places did including here:)!

[judygram]

It may take a while for them to eat them but keep offering them and maybe pretend to eat one in front of them to entice them to try it, sometimes that is the trick for they want what we have, they have never seen them before so don't know they are what they would be eating in the wild.

[KimKim]

No luck again.. I put the big green one in his cage yesterday, it looks like he got half the green stuff off and then gave up. He had dropped it, so I put it back in his cup, then he dropped it again so I put it back in the cup, and he dropped it again! So I left it at the bottom of the cage to see if he would go down to get it if he got bored, but no it is still there. He never goes to the bottom of the cage though. I will try again in a day or two with all three. I agree, I think they do need to ripen. The christmas and queen nuts were ripe already so I put those in the freezer. I left a few of the green ones out and also froze the rest.

[Dave007]

Red Palm nuts should look like this before a parrot can easily break into it. These are very ripe.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 26, 2010 by Dave007

[lindaleekoh]

Thanks for the info and pics Dave. Questions though...should they be allowed to ripen in the frig or counter top? They came in a sealed bag...should I wash and set them out? Will they feel softer to the touch when ripe? The ones I got were small orange/small red/and big green ones. I cleaned the small orange ones and put them in the fridge. I put a couple in Dante's bowl and he doesn't seemed very interested in them. Flame (sun conure) has played with them...but they are hard. Going to keep tryin'.

[Dave007]

The green ones have a long way to go----extremely unripe so they'll be the last to ripen.

The orange/red ones should be in a sealed container on the counter top until they turn light cherry red ( look at bunch in pic).

Once or twice a day, remove cover from the jar for about 1 to 2 hrs each time so mold doesn't develop. Don't keep them in the sun. When they ripen to roughly that color, take a knife and slice one a little bit. If the knife cuts it, even if its somewhat hard, your bird can penetrate it. Your bird's beak is much stronger and sharper than your knife.

You may wanna put those green ones in the fridge if you're not ready to ripen them. The ripening time is greatly decreased when they're in the fridge. But when you're ready and they're green, it's gonna take a much longer time to ripen but you'll have to go throuhgh the same procedure. The next time you buy them, make sure they're very red like in the photo. The internals should be soft like you see in the other picture. The inner orange is the soft palm oil.