hi, Bing has been putting holes in his newspaper alot now, it started about 3 days ago, he bites along the ridge in the middle of the fold of the newspaper and bites all down it, i can see bits of paper all over the floor, but i dont know if he is eating it? is it necesseraly bad if they are eating it?

I doubt he is eating it. He is shredding it, birds do these things when they are bored. Mix his cage up, give him some new toys, vary his routine. Help him break the habit. Help him say no to shredding.

lol thanks dave, by the way you put it it sounds like he is an addict,

Help him say no to shredding.

 

hehe i will probably go to the shops and get him some fresh new toys and mabye move his toys around, he only has two, the olympic rings and multicolour string shredder, should he have more?

depends on the size of the cage. String shredder? I am not sure that is a good idea. I ahve removed all strong from my aviary as i know that budgies can get caught in it and some actually hang themselves.

 

Do you have a picture of the cage?

My lorikeet thinks it's great fun when I put new paper in her cage, she spends the next hour destroying and then looks very satisfied! I think it' only a bad habit if you don't like him doing it, I can see how much fun my girl is having so I let her go for it!

Some people say that theycnget ink poisioning from eating newspaper .... I am unsure, However agree with Dave on this one ... Get new toys for bing to play with , Try flattening the newspaper down so he can not get to it.....

i dont have a picture of the cage dave but the toy is harmless, i no what ur thinking, it is a toy with bits of string flowing form it with plastic chains and wooden blocks on it ill try to find a picture similar to it on the internet

in the U.S. the ink in non-toxic, and I had a bird back that used to shred all the time with no issues, in different countries I am unsure. Preening toys are helpful too.

I'm prettyb sure the ink is non-toxic. After all with the amount that comes off on your hands just reading one they'd never get away with using toxic ink. I always keep an eye out for butchers paper (like blank newspaper or the stuff the wrap fish and chips in), sometimes people give it away.

My birds totally adore this toy.

 

I make it myself using all items that i know are non toxic and budgie safe. They reward me for my efforts by having a ball ripping it to shreads

** :hap: Steals, idea ......

I don't like using newspaper in the cage. It's either colored or just black & white. I use scrap paper from the printer. And I have a supply I can get from a recycler for free. (it has mistakes on it, but only on one side) A blank sheet of paper can tell you the color & looseness of poops & who needs a trip to the avians if it doesn't improve over a couple of days. Newspaper is hard to tell this from.

 

And ... theres no mess on your hands when you clean it up !