Angel out of cage, little devil when inside?!

[maryyy361]

Hello all!
Back in April '16 I adopted a 1 year old lovebird who I named Eleanor. She is very social and curious and loves to shred paper and decorate herself. I rescued her from an unfortunate situation where she had been bred twice back to back at her very young age. Her old owner would catch her with a butterfly net and her cage had no bottom, just sat on the floor. She was also separated from her mate because the owner wanted to breed him with another female to see "what color the babies would come out". So poor Ellie had to see but not be able to be with her mate.
Anyway, since bringing her home she has learned what it is like to be loved. She has a large cage, plenty of outside time, new snacks and an endless supply of newspaper to shred.

My problem however, is getting her out of the cage. Outside while on her perch or my shoulder she is a delight, she learned step up very quickly and lets me handle her without protest. As soon as I come near her cage or put my hands in, even to change her food, she fluffs up and lounges at me to bite. If I offer her my finger to step up, she attacks with no holding back.
How do I show her that hands are nothing to fear in the cage?

 

[trimblegirls]

Hi,
I'm pretty new to this but it sounds like she may be protecting her home from intruders. My Tillie does the same thing. Does she have a porch to come out on? I usually ask her to step up on her porch, never from inside her cage. If I see she's going to bite, I back off. After a bit, she usually wants to step up. I've read on other threads that they've used a perch to for them to step up on.
Good Luck!