IndianRingNeck.com

Hello everyone, does anyone know if Conkers or Horse Chestnuts are harmful to IRNs?

In the UK these are now falling from the trees and I wonder if baked or unbaked whether it's ok to give them not necessarily to eat but as playthings to maybe drill and string together? Obviously if I drill them it makes it easier to get what's in the middle so I wouldn't want to give them if it would hurt my baby.

Loo

I would also like to know this. I had forgotten about them, but my mom has a tree and I think those beautiful, shiny things would make a great toy, IF they are OK.

Hard to say. First I found these links: http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgar ... tnuts.html and http://tree-species.blogspot.com/2009/0 ... tnuts.html which say horse chestnuts are toxic or dangerous at the very least, and parrot people seem to agree that they are toxic to parrots too. Then I saw this: http://www.ruralramblings.com/wild-ring ... -in-london

So what is the answer? I do not know.

Thanks for doing that research

I guess its best if I refrain from using them, just to be on the safe side. Pity though, like MissK says they're so lovely and shiny, and your third link does picture the wild London flocks enjoying them, or their shells.

It's a hard one to answer isn't it!

Loo

Why not buy sweet chestnuts and boil them in their skins? when they cool, thread them and let your bird have them, if they are ok for us to eat, they should be safe.

Doodlebug wrote:Thanks for doing that research

I guess its best if I refrain from using them, just to be on the safe side. Pity though, like MissK says they're so lovely and shiny, and your third link does picture the wild London flocks enjoying them, or their shells.

It's a hard one to answer isn't it!

Loo

One of the comments in that last article pointed out that it was possible they were eating the mortar between the bricks of that house and that wild animals will often eat clay to purge the system of something toxic. So was that what they were doing? Or were they just having fun destroying stuff? Don't know. There's so much we just don't know!

Agreed! I know Doodlebug will destroy an apple or a corn cob without really eating any of it-he just loves to chuck it around and give me something to do!

I'm going to give the conkers a miss but as Sanjaysmummi suggests, will definitely try the sweet chestnuts and if he's lucky I might even share them with him lol!

Loo

I like the link, Meliaka. We have brick walls in a couple rooms downstairs and Nila likes to fly up to them to nibble some mortar.... I have been trying to work out what is deficient in his diet to no avail.

Ok, time for an update, sanjay loves sweet chestnuts best of all!, raw ok, boiled, even better!

Hi!

Agreed, Dudes LOVES them too, tried them on him Saturday. He went crazy for them! Didn't think about boiling them though, will have a go-they're probably much softer that way

Claire back in October 2013 you posted to Meliaka about Nila nibbling the mortar. Well l think it is the salt in the mortar that Nila is finding.