Who knew.....

[JerseyWendy]

I stumbled across this article just now, and of course it has me worried now because I DO use newspaper, often much older than 2 weeks.

How old is the newspaper that you use to line your bird's cage?

 

[kc_y0]

I saw this article too and it freaked me out!! My news papers are much older then two weeks as well!!

 

[MickeysMom]

Wow, that is kinda scary!

Luckily I leave the dirty paper in the tray while I scrub the grates and perches to catch the ickies, so it is usually wet when I remove it.....but now I'm thinking of throwing my supply of paper away (my MIL saves her papers for me too), and only using fresh.....UGH.

 

[Birdlover11]

I read it, I didn't freak out as much since I use litter but the litter is organic recycled crumbled pieces of paper. Should I worry ?

 

[Blue]

I only get a sunday paper.. and use that paper for the weeks cage cleanings, so I dont have any old papers

 

[Thingamagigs]

Just realise... anything you use that has sat around for a while has the potential to have collected/grown various nasties. None of this should be news to any of you, left to sit long enough, dust and micro-organisms will accumulate on any surface.
The vets in question would have had a local source for concern... a backyard filled with troubling amounts of the fungi perhaps from a large tree and failure to remove fallen leaves.

KNOW THE ENEMY Aspergillus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Don't get excessively paranoid over news articles... your first port of call when you read something like this should be to begin your own research. An informed parrot owner is a good parrot owner.

Freezing substrates can reduce the risk of micro-organisms but I am not sure if this has an effect on fungi, or whether they are capable of growing once thawed.