Rosie has had enough

[kendrafitz]

I have been away a bit in the last month. Just a few days here and there. Thankfully, I am now home until spring break.

Rosie my GW has always been good and never seemed stressed or upset. I have my mil or mom come and stay. If my mil is here (she won't handle Rosie but will chat and give her treats), I will have one of the neighborhood girls come to play with Rosie. They also take her out to her tree and put her to bed. They have been trained by me and love my little red headed queen. :). This last time Jef and the kids were home with her and they said she was fine.

Well, when I got home Friday after being away for the night Rosie seemed fine. Happy to see me, lots of kisses and cuddles. But she is now not wanting to come cuddle as much. She won't come when I ask 1/2 the time. If we shower and she sees me put makeup on and do my hair she won't come off her upstairs perch w/o a fight. Smart chick figured out makeup means mommy is heading out. She also is giving me a hard time about going to bed. Climbing to the back of my shirt - in by my shoulder blades where I can't reach her and flapping like a crazy bird. I don't give up but it is a torturous process and takes forever. :/

I am guessing she is just upset with me for leaving so often lately. But then I am wondering if on top of it it is her getting older and asserting herself more?

Any opinions and advice are welcome and appreciated. Since Rosie is my first bird, I just don't know much about their maturing process. She will be 2 in April.

[Debra]

I am guessing she is just upset with me for leaving so often lately. But then I am wondering if on top of it it is her getting older and asserting herself more?

I don't know about macaws, but I think you're on to something with the above statement. Sounds to me like she's just doing everything she can to get your attention but let you know she's miffed at you at the same time. Time and patience I'm sure will be the key here. She'll eventually come around.

[Pinkbirdy]

I also think its her "terrible 2s".Harlow is this age ,and I see similar things :)

[Mare]

Kendra, this sounds a bit like a "parrot" type behavior. You cannot leave, you have to be there..no matter what!

[Turquoise]

Yep, they are smarty pants about the 'leaving me again' game! Plus the 2 yr magical time frame is catching up to her & you are her recipient of the tantrum stages to follow. They can be such brats just like a real two year old. Ruby Jewel just turned 1 in Sept, but she gets in this mood at times while she is on her play perch. She will take spells of running to the back of her play perch and nips at my hand to keep from going in.

Not sure what you can do other than work with her & live through it. They do finally grow out of it I am told (the terrible twos, not the don't leave me again). Since mine are 2 1/2, 2 & 1 years old, I don't have the experience of what macaws are like a little further down the road. :)

Most of the time Ruby Jewel is anxious to go in her home cause I started her out by making eating in her enclosure a fun thing to look forward to. Her breeder fed her on her play perch, but given my work schedule I need her in her home eating. Offering her a pistachio like greedy Roscoe didn't work with Miss Ruby Jewel, so I started telling her what I put in her food bowl such as her favorite which is grapes. So now she sees me make the food & go to her home and she readily jumps on my arm. As I carry her to her home I am telling her, "Oh we've got grapes and and pecans and snoodles (my way of telling her she has noodles in her bowl) and whatever else I have put in her 4 bowls of goodies. Spoiled?~~Never!!

The macaw boys were so much easier to train to go back in their homes as they both love pistachios and love to pick their own out of the treat bowl as I take them back to the enclosure. Mister pest Roscoe has become super greedy & takes not one but two pistachios in his beak before he gets on his limb in his home. I tell him, "Why you greedy gut!" and he looks at me as if to say, "What are you complaining about? You have lots more in that bowl!" He's rotten, but I love him dearly. :hehe2:

[Mare]

My birds don't hang out with me when I'm getting ready to go somewhere, but my dogs do. They definitely know when I'm "getting ready" to leave without them. My fluffy, little dachshund, Scooby, will give me the sad eyes, whine when I look at her and stay right on my heels through the whole process. I don't know macaws like you all do but I would imagine that Rosie knows something is up that doesn't include her :)

[plax]

The terrible twos will pass. But I doubt that Rosie will ever completely grow out of engaging her protest mode ;). Salsa is 5 and he resists going back in his cage each time I need to step out. Then Zaf is 24, but I can usually depend on him throwing a bit of a tantrum each time I begin getting ready to leave the house as well. And in Zaf's case it's not simply because he's extra clingy from his recent broken leg ordeal, since he used to behave in exactly the same way before his accident. I've found that Macaws are quite smart, keenly perceptive, and very self-centered! But they're also so very adorable and lovable :th_biggrin:

[Turquoise]

Mare, you have a fluffy Dachshund? Me too~~Except mine is a registered toy poodle! :pinkgrin: Jen Jen has the most softest curly hair of any of my poodles & a very long wheel base. When he is shaved down he looks just like a wienie dog. I'll have to hunt through my photos & show you one of him fully haired & one shaved down.

[kendrafitz]

Thank you everyone! I appreciate all the responses. It's good to know I'm not alone with my Rosie not wanting me to leave.

So I will take it that she is not happy with me for leaving so much lately. Also heading into the terrible twos.

I do not know what to expect with the terrible two time for birds. I am guessing it is much like kids? Exerting independence while also wanting Mom? Of course being torn about it which can lead to tantrums? But with a great big beak thrown in? :o

[Mare]

Kendra, that sounds about right :).

Yes, De'Andrea, we have a fluffy dachshund! She is going on 9yrs. old and is still, the cutest thing ever. My oldest son and his girlfriend, bought Scooby when she was a pup. The relationship ended and my son got custody of the dog. Anyways, like most of our critters, around the place, she ended up here and I love her to pieces! She is a registered, long hair, silky hair, doxie and when I ask people to take a guess as to what breed they think she is, no one gets it right! I'll get a pic up of her, soon, I'd love to see your poodle!

[Blancaej]

I think macaws are born to be stubborn. It's all good! LOL! :D

You can't blame them. They just want to be with there favorite human all the time. After all, they are our biggest fan! :th_biggrin:

I would just keep doing what you are doing. Good luck with the terrible two's! I got the benefit of adopting older macaws so I get to surpass that. Although Coqui could still be going through puberty. Not sure really.