# Little Miss Leave me Alone



## Belinda (Oct 9, 2010)

Arnie has always been a bit of a velcro bird but left alone she will eventually calm down and amuse herself. The problem is that when we got her she used to be fairly cuddly but lately has become really cranky when my boyfriend wants to cuddle her and she even won't let him scritch her. He used to be her favourite.

She's never actively begged for scritches from anyone (not that she needs to, we're always giving her attention), and clearly she clearly enjoys having her head petted.

However, lately I've got this distinct vibe that she just wants to sit on our shoulder and doesn't want any physical contact from us, and I know she's happy because she will sit with me and grind her beak, and wants to be with me or anyone else all the time (even if it's just in the same room) but like a kid growing up she doesn't want her cuddles anymore and will sometimes bite us - she's just in a bad mood for no reason and my boyfriend's taking it personally. lol

She was a bold baby and matured much faster than her siblings and she's currently moulting, - she has a few pin feathers on her body. She's only 4 months, could this be an early puberty for her or some other growing pain? Has anyone else experienced this and could we be doing something to cause this?


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## Nika (Nov 9, 2010)

Hi Bellinda, unfortunately I can't offer you any advice/ a word of wisdom, but I can honestly say I hope she'll come around soon. I must say that most of your threads made me feel quite jealous  of what a great bond you both have with Arnella. My Cuddy has become so indifferent to me that I can honestly say, I never ever have seen a pet so uninterested in their carer. Then again she's totally in love with my partner, who she sees an hour a day, maybe, and it seems to be enough to keep her happy. Let us know how your doing


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Im going through the same with lucky she dont want to be petted but last night she moved closer to me i tried to pet her but she backs away, she has got alot of pin feathers


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## tielmom (Aug 4, 2010)

I think it could be some puberty hitting, but from my experiences with my own birds, I have to say they are much more irritable when they are molting and getting in new feathers (pin feathers). Once she is finished with her molt and all of her feathers are not hurting her, she will probably get all cuddly again


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

My birds often want some foreplay before they'll agree to head scritches. Try feeding treats, kissing her head etc for a while before you go for the scritch.


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## Belinda (Oct 9, 2010)

We used to kiss her head all the time, now she does the "bugger off" growl at us and will go to bite us, unless we can sneak one in.


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## Belinda (Oct 9, 2010)

It's definitely the moulting - she has so many pin feathers coming through and she is letting me scritch her unless I hurt her - the bf is a bit rougher and I don't think she can handle his attention right now. She is generally more tense.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Awww bless they do look painful don't they, lucky has them all over her face and they look sore, its a shame we cant help them to grow quicker or less painful for them.


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## oeb (Dec 18, 2010)

Alfie was sort of the same for a while when she went through her moult... I don't think it's anything to worry about. 

Does she have her wings clipped???


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## Belinda (Oct 9, 2010)

No, I was thinking of getting her clipped, but she is fully flighted. She's much happier that way and I like her to be able to feel secure by herself. 

We are currently housesitting and she's a little agitated from the move but has stopped biting too much.


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