HELP please!! self mutilation???

[kikii]

Hi Everyone,

I have a 5 year old lutino female lovebird named Mango.

In October i noticed that the area where she poos she has been ripping the skin off. At first i believe it was feather plucking, but then then i noticed that it was her skin and it just gets bigger and bigger. I took her to 3 vets, they all said its behavioural. They put this disk brace around her neck, the disk aggravates her and she starts to rip it off, evidentally injuring her neck or plucking her feathers by accident to remove the disk.

I'm not sure what else to do.. She is extremely attached to me, but i have given her distance, i dont pet her past her head and i give her ample attention when i am around.

I also noticed that she no longer lays eggs, at some point she kept laying eggs, one hatch after another all empty. But now she wont even lay eggs. I have to get her to stop ripping her skin off because now her bottom is all raw and bloody. I dont want her getting an infection.

Please help me in any way possible.

The vets are not helping at all.

FYI - i changed her diet, i changed her sleeping patters,i changed her cage and nothing seems to help. :( :(

[linda040899]

Are you using avian veterinarians and have any of them gently taken some cells from that area to run a culture to see what, if anything, comes back to indicate what's going on in that area? That's got to be painful for her, which explains why she's not laying eggs anymore!

I, personally, don't like collars, as they simply prevent the behavior rather than looking deeper for the cause. When all tests are exhausted with no results, then it could be behavioral but my vet maintains that most plucking has medical causes.

I've successfully used Neem Cream (brand name TheraNeem) to help one of my lovebirds that just about destroyed a wing because new feathers were that bothersome. My avian vet checked the ingredients and told me it's safe to use so you might want to try getting a container and applying a thin layer over the picked/mutilated area. Neem is soothing and has natural antibiotic properties.