Help! New lovebird trying to mate with my lovebird

[rosalvarez.gt]

Hi there ive had a peach faced lovebird (luna) for about a year and a half. We get along great and she is always by my side. Due to an increase in workload i felt awful about her spending so much time alone so i decided to get her a friend (soleil) ive had him for a little over a month. I followed the advice i had read and kept them separated for a month. Soleil was starting to eat out of my hand and would let me pet him. So i introduced them to each other. However the new bird keeps trying to mount her and luna is very aggressive. I also noticed that now soleil is biting me and no longer eats from my hand. What should i do??? I still have them in separate cages but place the cages close during the day. I dontknow what to do now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated !!

[linda040899]

Congratulations on your new lovebird! Soleil is a very pretty name!

When you introduced them, did you put Soleil in Luna's cage? If so, Luna's cage is HER home and females can be very aggressive about their cages! Many times, it's best to introduce them in a separate, neutral cages where neither has been living. I always let the new bird go in first because your existing one can take over the new cage in the blink of an eye and you are back to the cage aggression issue.

Hard to say what's happening when Soleil tries to mount Luna. Could be a mating thing, but it can also be aggression if Soleil is trying to grab Luna by the back of her neck. I think I would continue to keep them in separate cages unless supervised!

Cage aggression is common in lovebirds and it could be, now that Soleil is more comfortable, he/she is defending his/her home against what's now considered to be an invader. Will he/she come out of the cage? Many times, out of and away from the cage will help alleviate unwanted behavior.