Eating nut shells

[Talaya]

Hi all

i gave my Ekkie a whole walnut as a play treat. i made sure the shell was cracked first.
anyway, I left him to it and when I checked he had eaten all of it including the shell.
I know it won’t do any harm, but obviously we don’t usually eat the shell .. so I was just wondering does this seem right to you ? Yesterday I gave an egg shell and he ate all of that too.
thank you in advance for your knowledgable input

 

[HeatherG]

Re: eating the egg shell, maybe he needed the calcium?

 

[saxguy64]

Hmmmm, my ekkie doesn't particularly care for walnuts in the shell, but an almond is another story. My YNA loves the occasional walnut, but only if I break it in half. She won't touch them without the shell, or any other nuts other than almonds. What I have found is that the shells make an entertaining item for throwing. I've found them under the cage, inside the baseboard heaters, under the couch, halfway across the room... If your guy is actually chewing up and consuming walnut shells, that is one seriously determined birdie! I don't believe there's anything inherently harmful with the shell material, and it's unlikely that he'll purposely swallow anything too big to pass. Unless you see him eating them, I'd probably first go on a hunt to find where he threw them

 

[Talaya]

Hmmmm, my ekkie doesn't particularly care for walnuts in the shell, but an almond is another story. My YNA loves the occasional walnut, but only if I break it in half. She won't touch them without the shell, or any other nuts other than almonds. What I have found is that the shells make an entertaining item for throwing. I've found them under the cage, inside the baseboard heaters, under the couch, halfway across the room... If your guy is actually chewing up and consuming walnut shells, that is one seriously determined birdie! I don't believe there's anything inherently harmful with the shell material, and it's unlikely that he'll purposely swallow anything too big to pass. Unless you see him eating them, I'd probably first go on a hunt to find where he threw them

Hi Heather, he definitely ate them I watched break it up then peeling off the inner layer..I didn’t realise he was going on to eat it all. He’s always been a bit odd like that. He often throws his greens out of his bowl, I even saw him carry a pepper over to the cage front and push out the bars..He won’t eat peppers no matter how I try to hide them !
I did some reading about shells apparently they’re full of fibre and vitamins. Yes I usually give him almond slithers, cashews he just swallows. This was his First whole walnut, I guess in the shops due to Xmas coming. (so I gave it to him as lunch with some herbs and kale)
below is the remains ! I’ve not found any others on the floor yet.

 

[saxguy64]

Yup, determined little guy, and busy! A busy bird is a happy bird.