what should we use: older newspaper or recent newspaper?

[friend2parrots]

this article I came across says not to store newspaper for use as cage liner. because older newspaper can develop mold. apparently, after about a week or so, naturally existing aspergillosis spores start to multiply in stored paper. so they say fresh newspaper is best, and should be no older than one to two weeks at the most.

the article cites an interesting study done in Australia as well. worth checking out:

http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/how-old- ... irds-cage/

i'm VERY interested in what people have heard about this - what do you think is best? older or newer newspaper?

[marie83]

Interesting but it fails to say why the newspaper is such a good envionment for asper....
I assume the paper that is used before it even gets printed on is way over 2 weeks old because obviously they will probably have extra available in storage. So is it the ink that encourages the aspergillosis? or is it just a coincidence? or is it because these newspapers were stored in an area with a higher moisture source- either in the air or a damp warehouse type environment? It doesnt even say (as far as I can see from a quick read) that they had ruled out other sources.

From past research I have done I have come to the conclusion that newspaper helps reduce pathogen build up and is one of the best things you can use but obviously viral, fungal and bacterial agents are all very different so maybe it will help against one thing but not against others.

Theres too many questions that can be raised about the article as it stands, imo, to be overly worried about it. I may have a look tomorrow to see if there is any research on the matter available but at this moment I'm not going to take my birds off of paper substrate as i believe it to be alot more hygeinic than sand/woodchips and other stuff.

[Michael]

Interesting. Never thought of this. Is it only a matter if the bird comes in contact with the paper or is it a problem if it's under a tree or cage grate so the bird never comes in contact with it?

[marie83]

Asper is usually contracted by inhaling the spores so I assume any movement (bird flapping?) will raise the spores into the air. If it is indeed the newspapers then I doubt it will matter much if there is direct contact with the paper or not.

[CaitlinRice413]

[friend2parrots]

Interesting but it fails to say why the newspaper is such a good envionment for asper....I assume the paper that is used before it even gets printed on is way over 2 weeks old because obviously they will probably have extra available in storage. So is it the ink that encourages the aspergillosis? or is it just a coincidence? or is it because these newspapers were stored in an area with a higher moisture source- either in the air or a damp warehouse type environment? It doesnt even say (as far as I can see from a quick read) that they had ruled out other sources.

youre right marie, the article does not address these things, esp. where the "naturally occurring" aspergillosis in newspaper comes from? and can those spores also adhere to other substrate products?

i'm going to continue using newspaper because of the benefits marie has listed -the problems the article describes may be present in any substrate product, depending on its method of storage prior to getting to us, and how we store it afterwards.

caitlin, your suggestion of the recycled newsprint sounds like something i might try in the future, if youve noticed that it doesnt decompose as fast as newspaper (dont they treat the art papers so they dont yellow or something? )

although i've never had trouble with using newspaper (we never store newspaper since we get it everyday) i was wondering if this might be a good "just to be safe" measure: to spray the newspaper we use with 91% rubbing alcohol (that you get in the pharmacy), and letting it dry, to kind of try to disinfect the paper in case there's an issue. alcohol is supposed to evaporate completely without a trace. anybody see a red flag in doing this?

[CaitlinRice413]

[marie83]

I can't say I have ever noticed newspaper look bad, appear to lose quality etc, after a period of time. We dont get newspapers so my mum saves them up for me so we do tend to store them in a plastic drawer. The bottom papers could easily be a year old as we dont usually rotate them. Hmmm. I haven't had chance to do any more research on this but I will post a message if I do find anything worth reading.

[Pralina]

Ive always used newspapers.... and this article doesn't convince me of the potential risks... I keep my stash in a very dry closet (near my water heater) and I end up using it in a week or two anyway...

I know that newspaper ink in the States and Canada is different than the one used in Europe for instance, so ... I don't know if that makes a difference too.....

[Grey_Moon]

I actually heard about this a little while ago, and am planning on putting vinyl stick on tiles on Jacko's cage tray once I can to avoid this risk (plus, it also saves paper and cuts down on mess!).

Given that I clean Jacko's cage daily I don't really benefit from the anti-bacterial properties in the ink.