Paper for Bedding Or Litter????

[Sami]

I've read that you can give gerbils shredded paper for their only litter.

I've also read it should only be used as nesting material.

I was going to mix it into the bedding I'm already using and see how they like chewing it. ;D

But what kind of paper is safe? Computer paper BEFORE the ink is on it, or after, color and black make no difference I guess.

-Can I give regular lined school paper, and if I'd guess it can't have pen ink on it?
-Can if have #2 pencil lead on it?
-And can I just give them whole or partially torn sheets to chew up?
-Are envelopes safe with ink or lead on them?

[firefly]

If you check the topiclist you can see there's an topic named 'colored cardboard'. There someone asks if ink on cardboard and paper is allright, so I think you can find and answer there.

[RyanF]

Sami: I would stick with paper that has a minimal amount of color, ink, pencil, etc. I give 2 of my gerbils shredded newspaper, just make sure it's dry.

[Sami]

Thanks. I knew manilla folders and cardboard boxes were safe, if food or unscented tissues came in it (so long as it didn't have the waxy substance on the outside) or excessive glue. But I wasn't sure if paper could have ink on it, I know newspapers are safe if they use soy ink but I don't know what kind of ink can be found in computer printers, and the other thread didn't answer any of those questions. I'll run a search though and see if I can find it somewhere else. I also know some sort of written on paper is safe, it was recommended on another thread I saw, where they put the old school things in the gerbil tank at the end of the school year but I couldn't remember what it said about the lead. I've never read pen as being safe but my gerbils have escaped and chewed on paper with pen ink before and luckily never had any side effects, I just wanted to be sure they'd be safe with computer paper or regular paper that's been typed on.

[doomgerbiluk]

Ok printer paper printed with black is good, if you have a shredder you can shred it, if you plan to show be careful, paler coloured gerbils may be stained by the ink
Coloured printer inks seem to be debatable and are probably best avoided
hope this helps