Cisco's being weird with his cage papers...

Hi all! So, Cisco has been VERY possessive with the papers on the bottom of his cage! When I got him he never went to the bottom of his cage so I removed the bottom grate. He recently started going to the bottom and shredding the paper! (I keep the papers changed a couple times a day for this reason) He hides under them and when he shreds them it ends up looking like a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle.:09: He has gotten so protective/possessive that he doesn't even want to come out of his cage, regurgitates on the papers, and started attacking me when I touch them...I have the battle wounds to prove it:11:. So, my question is, should I replace the paper with something else? I did start using the grate again, and now he will come out of the cage at least. But sometimes he just stands there looking down at the papers like he's sad and can't figure out how to get back down there. I think this is hormonal and hopefully will pass, but will it help him to just keep replacing the paper, or should I replace the papers with something else, like out of sight out of mind??

It does sound hormonal. Our male quaker does the same thing, the last time was a couple of months ago. He plays on the floor of his cage sometimes but he started shredding paper and getting obsessive. We started leaving his grate uncovered and putting the paper beneath it. He still paced around looking flustered because he couldn't get to the paper. We rearranged all his perches and gave him a batch of new, interesting toys and that did it. When he got past his hormonal stage he was normal again. If he's just playing on the bottom of his cage we let him have his fun, but when it gets to the point were he refuses to come out, we remove the paper until it passes. Good look, I hope Cisco returns to normal soon.

How long does the hormonal stage usually last ?

Christine, the short answer is, until all the humans are ready to run screaming out of the house.

The real answer is, it's according to the individual bird, the season and hormone levels. Two to four weeks is about average for my birds and it happens twice a year. For some of them it's hardly noticeable and sometimes sweet birds become demons. My quakers seem to be more effected than the other species.

Christinenc2000 said:

How long does the hormonal stage usually last ?

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With a conure? Somewhere between 15 and 25 years! It's not really seasonal with these guys (At least it wasn't with mine.) But they generally aren't hormonally overloaded all the time.

It's part shredder toy. Part nest. "Awww Mom! (Don't take my toys away/don't mess with my nest... ") They can be quite feisty when they get their hackles up...