Parakeet biting cage

Question
We recently moved our 1.5 year old parakeet to a new larger cage. The cage was yellow, so I sanded and spray painted it white. He now bites the bars (think fingernails on chalkboard sound) and is flaking the paint off. I think he might even be eating it! He has one of those mineral bars to gnaw on, and gravel perches. Would a cuttlebone help? I need to know how to make him stop this.

Answer
Dear Lauren,
thank you for your question.
Unless you know exactly that the paint you used is non-toxic, I highly recommend moving the parakeet to the old cage and painting the old cage again with non-toxic paint. There's a certain type of acryllic paint that is used for children's toys that is safe for birds, too.

Offer him a lot of other things to chew on, like wooden toys, cork bark, branches.I also recommend using natural branches as perches instead of gravel perches or the smooth storebought ones, branches are better for the bird's feet because they train the muscles and they make great chewing toys. Here's a list of safe and unsafe wood:
http://www.birdsafe.com/woods.htm
With a big branch, you can build a sort of budgie tree by either putting  it upright in a bucket filled with sand or by hanging it from the ceiling.
It may take him a while to stop gnawing the cage bars, but he will prefer gnawing on wood and other things eventually.

I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer