Need some help on a bearded dragon who is not mine but i wis

He belongs to my mother in laws. Here is the prob
Hi i am very new here but my mother in law has a bearded dragon it is orange. I do not know if the color matters. She got him not too long ago and he has large white spots on him. Please bear with me while i explain to the best of my knowledge. The spots were not bad at first. I assumed he was shedding but then his almost entire tail got covered and now his hind legs are getting covered as well. The scales ? i guess you would call them are not flat they are raised like it is water logged or something. Can anyone tell me if this is a true infection or if it is just shedding? I am very concerned ! I do not have pics but here is what i know about him and his set up. Some one else asked me on Reptile Rooms but i have not had a reply just yet so i want to get information from a few places before i decide what to do next. Here is what i said.

Ok as i said this is not my dragon so i will give you what i know and have seen.

Yes this is her first bearded dragon.

They are located in Champaign Illinois

Terror is his name (but does not suite him he is a sweetheart !!!)

He is 2 yrs old i am told

He has been with her for like a month

he got a bigger cage/tank he went from a 15 gallon to a 30.

He is not very active (Has a hurt arm i think cause he tucks it in and has trouble climbing,but his eyes are like those in books and articals i have seen. So yeah his eyes seem fine. (She has Cork wood in there I don't know if you know what i am talking about but she got it from sailfin pet shot.

his tail tip is like a dark grey but the rest of him is orange except his under which is i don't know what to call it. It looks fine to me. It is his tail(95%is like a white color and looks swollen. The scales look swollen but in the middle of his tail he still has a bit of orange. but it seems to be spreading up his hind legs. It is no where else on him.

No he is not walking or moving normally. He can not climb. Well without hurting himself. I have seen him try and he pulled his right arm under him so fast and ended up on his back in a sit up position breating hard and was holding that arm so close to him. I gave him a minute to calm down and then helped him with his task.

The only feature that does not look right is his tail and now his hind legs.
She got him off of craigslist. No breader or store. They just sold him cause they did not have time i guess. (Don't know the real story about that)

I don't know about what they have done before she got him but he has not been treated since she has had him. (But i am gonna have to take him in)

Now about the basking thing i am not sure cause i am not there but will explain in tank set up. You can try to decide on that. Yes, he sleeps during the day.

Bathroom i don't know.

He is alone

As for the soaking and misting. I just got her to start doing that. But she took his bath out and justs mists him once a day now.

Ok here is the Enclosure

30 Gallon tank Use to be a 15gallon

She keeps it at 80 degrees all the time and the humidity says desert. She uses a heat lamp and another lamp on the other side has an energy efficent bulb. Don't ask me why cause i don't know. But she does leave it on 24/7 and never shuts it off and he has no place to hide.

No real cool area. He does not have a shelter.

I don't understand what you mean by measure it with

She lines the bottom with newspaper.Full sheets not strips.

She uses an heat lamp that just sits on top of the screen. Don't know the wattage. Would say the tank is a foot and a half to 2 feet tall. Like i said the lamp is on all day and on the other side is just a regular lamp with an energy efficent bulb.

Food !

He likes his greens and i have seen him eat Red grapes, Powder covered crickets? The little brown ones. She buys 12-24 and feeds them to him all at once. He gets a fuzzy once a month. But greens and grapes dayly.That is the food list.

Other information.

I know she is suppose to turn the light off at night but she keeps her house cold. I also know he needs shelter. But she took it out cause he kept hiding and would not move. I am not thrilled about her having him with out the research. She bought him for her man and he ignores him. I try to spend time with him as much as possible cause when i hold him outside the tank he streaches out on me and falls asleep. He turns a beautiful orange color well until i try to wake him up then he gets all black under his chin lol ! He is not happy and it breaks my heart. He is hurt and that bothers me. She will not touch him cause she is afraid he will bite her. I am calling the vet tomorrow to get him an appointment. I don't have anyway to transport him except a cat carrier with a towel. I am gonna try to get her to sell him to someone who knows about them or give him to my brother in law. He has had his snake since i have known him and the snake is fine always has been. He takes great care of his reptiles. If i get to town tomorrow i will take a pic. But til then i only have a mental image which i have not seen on any images i have looked up. If you can help me help her or at least help Terror PLEASE ! Let me know what i can do to fix this for him ! My heart goes out to him and i can not stand to see him hurt or unhappy. I have grown attached and he is not even mine !

Hey there. you have a lot of information that makes it hard for me to pin point exactly whats going on. Somethings that stood out after skimming through was the temperature. Basking temps for a 2year old are around 95-105 and the cool area needs to be around 80. As for the white spots i dont know much about skin disorders. usually shedding skin looks light greyish dull color. Depending on the beardies health they can shed fast or slow. A 40 long breeder is the smallest reccommended enclosure for anything over 9-12 inches long.
Please answer these questions so we can easily see whats going on. (just copy and paste and fill them out)
Thanks!
-Annie

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon? male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?

Ok here is what i know about him

How old is your dragon? He is 2 yrs old

How long have you had your dragon? She has had him for like a month and a half to 2 months

How long is your dragon? That i am not sure of i would estimate him to be (body from head to tail 1 foot and maybe the same for the tail if not shorter.

What is the sex of your dragon? male Yes, he is a male

What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? He use to be in a 15 gallon but she upgraded to a 30 gallon.

What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? She has newpaper (full pages not shredded)

Do you use UVB lights? i am not sure what that is but it is a big heat lamp. has a big bulb.

If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? ? Do not know

What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Do not know

How old is your UVB bulb? She changed it cause the last one she broke when her man cleaned the cage.

How close can your dragon get to the UVB? The tank is about 2 feet in height and he does not climb i think he has a hurt front leg. Here is what happened when he climbs I have seen him try and he pulled his right arm under him so fast and ended up on his back in a sit up position breating hard and was holding that arm so close to him. I gave him a minute to calm down and then helped him with his task.

Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? The only other light is a clip on desk lamp i guess you would call it, but it has an energy efficent bulb.

What are the basking temps? She keeps it at a direct 80 degrees and never shuts the lamp off. She has these circle thermometers that says the temp and condition the condition is desert

What is the cool side temp? Like i said she does not shut it off. He has no place to hide she took it out cause he would just lay there. He has cork in there looks like wood but is not. But he can not climb. He tries but he does not always make it with his arm. I feel sorry for him.

Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?

Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? She use to but i made her stop cause she laid it directly on top of the sand when he had sand.

What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. He likes his greens and i have seen him eat Red grapes, Powder covered crickets? The little brown ones. She buys 12-24 and feeds them to him all at once. He gets a fuzzy once a month. But greens and grapes dayly.That is the food list.

How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? She feed him once a day

Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? No, I read about that and she buys it from the store then feed them all to him at once.

Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? She has some they are red but i don't think she feeds them to him i am not sure.

Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? I don't know.

Do you bath your dragon? No she does not she use to have a bowl for him to do that but she took it out cause the crickets kept killing themselves.

Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? She mists him once a day.

Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No he is alone

Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? Has not been to the vet since she has had him but i am going to take him if he does not get better.

I am sorry i do not have more information or a pic. I will try to get one soon, but i do not get into town often. And since her man neglets him he does not get out of the cage much. She will not touch him cause she is afraid he will bite and he does not spend time with him as he should. He loves to be picked up and played with. I just don't know what else to do !!!

The problems i see are the temperatures, food,enclosure size, and vitamins.

He needs to have the temps at 105 basking and 80 cool. There NEED to be measured by a digital thermometer with a probe. Probe should be placed directly underneath the light. gauges are no accurate for measuring temps. Also she needs to put him on a 12 cycle lighting. Beardies need the complete darkness time. night time temps should not fall below 63-65. If they do you need to get a ceramic heat emitter.
Also- You need to find out what his UVbulb is. It sounds maybe he has a MVB bulb instead of a tube. Since you dont know what it is or how old, it be best to buy a new one. Look into megaray or t-rex active heat MVBS. They only emit 10 or so months of UVB rays so they need to be replaced accordingly.

With food the crickets should be gut loaded. You can purchase cricket food at petsmart. Crickets should not be fed until after 48 hours with food. if they are fed as is its like eating celery....no calories. pretty much a waste of money. IF he is only 12 inches long and over a year old he probvably has a calcium defeciency. He should get his food dusted every day just for one feeding. He should be fed twice a day and eat as much as he wants in 15 mins. He should also get multivitamins 1-2 times a week. Since he has a hurt leg i wonder if he would benefit from liquid calcium.
-if you are using a MVB bulb make sure to get calcium powder WITHOUT d3. These bulbs are strong and allows them to produce d3 on their own.

You should really look into getting him a bigger cage. I got 2 of mine at petsmart for over 100. Its critter terrarium 36 long by 18 wide, and i think 18 tall. If his lights are placed from 2 feed above he is barely getting the heat he needs. The heat does everything to keep those guys going....they live on that stuff.

I hope this helps. Like i said i dont know about your skin situation but a picture would REALLY help.