Two weeks ago I brought home a female lovebird to be a companion to my lovebird who had lost his mate. They immediately liked each other which I am very thankful for. I put them in the same cage almost immediately. However, I am having a difficult time trying to clean or do anything in the cage because the female tries to bite me. She moves very quick too so I have to be fast in order not to be bit. I try to clean when she comes out of the cage, but as soon as she sees my hand in there she gets back into the cage and comes after me. I have never had a bird be this territorial before. When she is out of the cage she is a little better. She usually will sit on my shoulder, but she occasionally bites my neck. She does not like my hands and arms though. Whenever I try to get her to step up she will bite me. I have bite marks all over my arms. The lady I bought her off of said that she is very sweet and she was able to hold the lovebird in her hand. Why would she be so different with me? Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to stop the biting?

One other thing too is that she is about 9 years younger than the male she is with now. She has been trying to mate with him, but he just sits there. Do birds get too old to mate? Is there a certain age when they stop? I'm wondering if I made a mistake getting a much younger bird as a companion for my older lovebird.