# Is chewing news paper bad?



## Charliechuckles

My birds are obsessed with chewing the news paper, i have it layed on the grate as they seem to lose thier footing, but they just eat it or chew it and alot. Is it bad and what can i do to stop them. They can not possibly be bored they have plenty of toys and branches the could chew instead of the paper!


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## Annie

Don't worry, I know it is perfectly safe because I asked the exact same question myself on this forum before I got Sunny.  If you want to read my thread, it was posted Under "Cockatiel Talk" on November 22, 2009 entitled "Using Newspaper to Line Cage-Bottom-Safe?". But to make it even easier for you, below are the helpful responses I received from our wonderful moderators Mythara and Solace:

Newspapers use soy ink, which is non-toxic, even for the colours. They have to because kids get hold of newspapers, and young ones will eat it.You can check with the publishers of the paper your planing to use to check the ink. Generally though, all paper is safe, provided it's not perfumed, or is shiny magazine/advertising paper.
(Mythara)

Yup, I've been using newspaper for a long time now, either that or paper towels. If the 'tiels a shredder like mine, it won't last long lol.. so it's best to get as much as you can.
(Solace)

Hope it helps!

Annie and Sunny


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## kfelton0002

Yeah my birds have all chewed newspaper at some time or another and I often wondered the same thing. I know someone had told me that the ink was non-toxic, but I didn't know it was derived from soy. I do know that I have had birds still damp from a bath walk across the newspaper and get black ink staining on their tail and/or breast feathers. Not life-threatening or even medically relevent, but who wants a black stained tiel?? lol Especially if they are lutino! Oh and the bird doesn't even have to be wet. The ink is easily transferred from the paper to the bird's feathers. Have you ever lightly ran your finger over a newspaper? You end up with a black fingertip usually. The ink stains really easily. I can simply be reading the newspaper and I'll have black ink everywhere... lol


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## claire2010a

To my knowledge, while a large number of US newpapers use soy ink, not all do -- especially among "small run" newspapers, I believe there are still petroleum based inks in use. 

And that's just in the USA -- I suspect that other countries will also have a mix of inks used, dependent on the newspaper. 

I was able to find out at the local paper's web site that they use soy ink. I recommend checking up on the specific paper you plan to use.


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## mpayjr

It's alright that you cockatiels are shredding the newspaper. It's also ok if they eat a very _ SMALL_ amount of it. If you start seeing that they are eating an exessive amount, you many need to start thinking of a new way of covering the grate.


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