paper for tearing

[cheryl]

is it ok to give sweetypie glossy magazine pages to tear into strips?
can i give her colored origami tissue paper, as long as the ink dosent rub off?:confused:
i think ive read somewhere that magazines were ok, but i cant find the post to read again.

[Christine9]

Well, I can tell you that my lovies tear up magazines all the time with no ill effects. Not sure about the origami paper, but I would assume so. Of course, as with all paper, you have to make sure the bird does not ingest it. Some birds will eat paper and, if they do, it can get impacted in their crops.

[BarbieH]

Glossy paper isn't the best option, as it's been chemically treated to make it slick. Origami paper would be okay as long as it's colored with vegetable dye. Same goes for newsprint -- and I believe most newsprint now is printed with vegetable-based dye.

I've never heard of a lovie getting an impacted crop from shredding paper. Mine, at least, seem to digest paper rather well. The problem I've seen is that a nesty hen can get so engrossed in shredding, she won't do anything but shred. She won't eat, and that leads to trouble.

I once had problems with Gracie shredding so much paper, her poopins' turned whitish-grey. I had to limit her paper intake for her own sake. Eventually she started getting nesty with seed hulls, but at least there was some nutrional value. :)

Best wishes,

[butterfly1061]

Cheryl,

You can also give your lovie plain white computer paper. I use this with my lovies.

[Christine9]

I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree that allowing a bird to eat paper is safe. Here is an excerpt from an article that illustrates what I am refering to:


The ingestion of paper products seems to be risky. Birds that commonly play with paper may or may not eat it. There also seems to be a great deal of variability in what problems develop and over what period of time. We have recently seen three cases where there was serious GI tract problems, including proventricular dilation, in newspaper eating birds. In all three cases newspaper was flushed out of their proventriculus and ventriculus (stomach). It seemed to have both an obstructive and an irritative effect. In all three cases the birds were feather picking. All signs abated after flushing and removing all paper. An amazon parrot with a long history of eating newspaper from the cage floor had severe inflammatory changes (seen on endoscopy and in biopsies) in her GI tract that have resolved slowly over time after the paper was removed. Many different clinical signs, including loose droppings, increased water output, weight loss and feather picking have resolved by simply stopping paper ingestion. It is likely that in the last 5 years the composition of paper has changed dramatically with the addition of recycled components. It is possible that something in these components contributes to the problem.

Source: http://www.forthebirdsdvm.com/ABCnonfood.htm

[BarbieH]

Thanks Christine! That's new information for me, and I'm always happy to add to the knowledge base. :) It sounds like the jury is still out, so to speak, on whether or not it's okay, but it's worth limiting paper in any case.

[Christine9]

Thanks Christine! That's new information for me, and I'm always happy to add to the knowledge base. :) It sounds like the jury is still out, so to speak, on whether or not it's okay, but it's worth limiting paper in any case.

No problem! Actually, since you brought up the point about glossy magazine paper being treated with chemicals, I think I am going to go ahead and not allow them to touch my magazines, and just let them use plain computer paper instead. Even though they haven't been negatively affected yet, I don't want to take the chance that someday in the future they might get sick.

[Kathryn]

To be further on the safe side...;)
Some computer paper is made from recycled paper products that have gone through a bleaching cleaning process. It is usually a cheaper grade of white paper and should be clearly labeled as "made from recycled products".