FINCHforum

My new Java Rice Finch has taken to the habit of sticking her beak though the holes in the the plastic hardware mesh at the bottom of the cage and grabbing the newspaper underneath that I use to keep things clean. She has actually managed to get her beak down far enough where she's grabbing the newspaper and ripping pieces of it off. I don't know if she's doing it just to play, if she's eating the stuff or if she intends to put it in a nest, even though they have coconut fiber they can use.

Anyway, is the newspaper safe should she do something like try to eat it?

Lots of my finches rip up the newspaper and either play with it or add it to their nest. It's fine.

They do that for nesting material.
I have had to put 1/2" square wire mesh over the newspaper, or it would get shredded and stuffed into the nest.