# Probably just molting but I'm heartbroken :(



## cyhiraeth (Jul 14, 2012)

My tiel Beatrix was a year old when we got her in September, and although she has a stubborn streak, she's quite tame. She (usually) likes sitting on my shoulder and snuggling my neck, getting head scratches, watching my budgies (although she doesn't like it when they get too close), and chewing on the toys in the play area I set up for her outside her cage.

A couple days ago, I noticed she had some pinfeathers on her neck, and I've been finding feathers in her cage, so I put two and two together and figured she's probably molting. She's been a little cranky, a little more standoffish than usual, but mostly normal. Last night, before I put her to bed, I gave her head scratches and she fell asleep on my shoulder, leaning against my neck, after wearing herself out playing.

When I got her up this morning, she ate breakfast and then wanted head scratches, but after petting her for a little while, she muttered and bit at me (she doesn't usually bite me), so I figured she had some pinfeathers that were bothering her and stopped. Throughout the day, she would put her head down like she wanted scratches, and she'd tolerate them for a few seconds, then mutter and bite at me, then put her head back against my fingers for more petting. I tried to be really careful, but I thought if her pinfeathers were bothering her that much, I should bathe her. I have a shower perch for her, so I usually bathe her in the shower in the indirect spray, and in the past she's done the bath dance and seemed to enjoy it, but today she didn't. She just huddled and looked unhappy, but I really wanted her to get some help with her pinfeathers so I left her to bathe for a little while (like two minutes or so). Afterward I took her out and she dried off sleeping on my shoulder, against my neck (I blotted her dry with a towel, but she HATES being toweled and barely tolerates the blotting, so I can't dry her off thoroughly and she winds up air drying). She let me give her normal head scratches (i. e., no posturing or threatening to bite) after she'd dried off and preened a little, and then I put her in her cage so I could go for a walk.

This evening, when I got back from my walk, she wanted NOTHING to do with me. She didn't want to come out of her cage, wouldn't perch on my finger, only paid attention to me if I was actively feeding her treats--I thought she might be mad about the bath, so I gave her a lot of millet and sunflower seeds to try to apologize--, and when I tried to give her scratches, she BIT ME, like REALLY bit me. She NEVER bites me!  If I put her on my shoulder, instead of snuggling like she usually does she tried to walk down my arm back to her cage.

(In case you need the basics, she eats Zupreem pellets, a no-sugar cereal mix, a veggie/brown rice/seed mix with a hard-boiled egg (including shell) and multigrain bread crumbs mixed in. She gets at least 12 hours of darkness a night, in a separate sleeping cage in another room so we won't inadvertently keep her awake. She's out of her cage an absolute minimum of two hours a day, playing next to me on her play area or hanging out on my shoulder.)

I am heartbroken.  I'm really, really hoping she's just tired and cranky because of her molt and that I haven't done something that will really damage the relationship (the bath today is the only thing I could think of that might have made her angry). She still seems to like me being around, because she still flock-calls me if I leave the room, even if she's in her cage, but she doesn't seem to love me anymore.  I already have two budgies who barely tolerate me, and I really enjoyed having a bird who would actually REQUEST to spend time with me. I'm hoping that's not over because if she starts to dislike me I don't think I could bear it.

Can someone maybe shed some light on what's going on here? Is this normal molting behavior? Did I make her irreparably angry by bathing her when she didn't really want to bathe? If so, what can I do so she'll forgive me? Was she maybe just tired this evening and wanted to be left alone to sleep? I just need some ray of hope that maybe someday she'll want to be around me again.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Are you sure she's a she? Males, when going through their first molt will become crabby and unbearable. It passes but its rather frustrating. Some hens will go through it too but its more common in males. Hormone reduction techniques will help manage this behavior: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=32330 It usually takes about two weeks for it to fully kick in.


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## cyhiraeth (Jul 14, 2012)

Thank you! We're sure she's a female; she apparently thinks I'm her mate and has previously displayed what is DEFINITELY female mating behavior (crouching down, lifting her tail, and squeaking). (Also, she's a lutino, but in bright light you can see she has yellow bars on the underside of her tail, which I read was a female trait.) We started hormone reduction techniques as soon as we got her in September, and she's stopped being "nesty" and trying to get me to mate with her, so I thought it was working. :/ 

She's pretty bossy and stubborn for a female cockatiel, though--the breeder was apparently VERY concerned my budgies would pick on a cockatiel, so she picked me an older bird who, she said, would be able to stand up to the budgies. (I'm kind of annoyed about this because I told her the birds wouldn't be housed together and that all out-of-cage time is supervised, but that's another issue.) Also, she's a year old; would this be her first molt?


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## bradjo (Oct 25, 2012)

Birds work very hard at concealing illness. If the birds behavior is very different I'd take her/him to my avian vet. The other thing I'd do is weigh my birds at least weekly and keep a spreadsheet with the results. Often the first sign of illness is weight loss and a gram scale can pick that up for you. I hope your bird will be fine and feeling more like company soon.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

And some birds can be grouchy...since she's only a year, I think it may be either her first or second molt. You can try to sprinkle some brewer's yeast on her food, that should help reduce her stress.


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## cyhiraeth (Jul 14, 2012)

Bradjo: Thank you! But I don't think she's ill; she's acting fairly normally aside from just suddenly not liking me. Other than that, she's acting exactly the way my other birds act when they molt: sleeping a bit more, preening more often, and eating like a horse. Her poop is normal, her appetite is normal (maybe a little increased), she has no nasal discharge/sneezing, she's not fluffed, she perches fine and can climb around her cage like a champ, no vomiting or coughing--none of the warning signs that might make me think she's sick (and trust me, I'm a total hypochondriac when it comes to my birds). She played a fair amount today, too, about as much as usual. The only way her behavior has significantly changed is in how she acts toward me.

Roxy: Thank you! I'll try that. I don't have brewer's yeast, but I have nutritional yeast; do you think that might work? When my budgies molt, I try to up their protein intake, and that seems to help them get over the molt more quickly, so I might make her some quinoa or mix some seeds with some scrambled egg (she's a picky eater, though, so I don't know if it will work). I wish there were something we could give them when they molt to ease their discomfort. When my wisdom teeth are bothering me, I can take ibuprofen or something, but our poor birds just have to power through.


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