monkey nuts

[kgamblin]

I've been reading the dos and don'ts food list and browsing other parrot diet tips and ran across a post that monkey nuts are not to given because they cause death.  My question here is "what is a monkey nut?"  It is something I've never heard of before.  Not to be "cheeky" but those of you in the UK and those of us in the US do have very different slang and I didn't know if Monkey nuts could be slang for a particular type of nut I would have heard of. 

A little help please.  If this is not a communication gap let me know What the "sam hill" a monkey nut is. 

[Janie]

Peanuts are known by many local names, including earthnuts, ground nuts, goober peas, monkey nuts, pygmy nuts and pig nuts.

You will probably know them as peanuts...  it's not the nut itself that is harmful but the shell.  It gives off a fine dust when being cracked and can contain harmful fungi spores.  A few shelled peanuts (which my father in law calls 'red skins' - another name for you) - doesn't do any harm. 

Hope thats cleared that up for you...

hugs Janie xxx

[feika]

Already answered.

[kgamblin]

Thanks, ladies a common name for peanuts in the northern regions of the US is goobers or goober peas and in the southern regions they can be called redskins.  I'm sure there are others as well I've just not heard of any.

I am glad to know that I need to shell Ruby's peanuts because I haven't been doing that because she seems to like tearing into the shells.

What about the shells of other types of nuts such as walnuts, almonds, etc?   

[billysprout]

A lot of people feed them the nuts in the shells as the bird enjoys foraging but there is a fine dust that comes off it, try opening one yourself, you can see it. This is the dust that causes a fatal lung disease in them, by all means shell them yourself and give them the nuts. As far as i know the shells from other nuts are fine.

[autumnmoon]

It is interesting that peanuts are not really nuts at all, but legumes.

[Billcry]

Human quality peanuts in the shell should be free of the dangerous fungus, but I always put them in the microwave for two minutes to heat the shells really hot-- well above 200 degrees-- then allow them to cool. They should be sterile at that point.  Of course peanuts are high fat and should be given as a small treat only.

[kgamblin]

Thanks for the tip.  I'll try putting them in microwave.