Dark patches of scales on back. Is this fungal?

I have a 2 year old 450 gram female beardie that is very active and eats like a beast! She bathes frequently but has developed a large patch of dark scales on her back as well as smaller patches above her eye, on her back, and on some of her feet. I remember noticing yellow blotches on her body several months back and then they seemed to go away. I cannot remember if the yellow was where the dark scales are now. I'm thinking this might be fungal but I really am not sure. If it is, how do I treat it and how did she get it? I'm currently giving her betadine baths.

Hello,

Wow that looks like a very bad case of fungus, unless you have black sand in the tank?
The betadine baths are fine, to clean the skin, but don't over bathe her because water
tends to make fungus spread. Until you can get her to a vet for a skin culture, I would
get some anti-fungal cream such as lotrimen or monistat to help. You could even use
manuka honey or raw, unpasteurized honey. Just be sure that there aren't any loose
bugs inside of his tank that would be attracted to the honey.
How is her appetite?
Do you have her on loose or solid substrate?

Tracie

Thank you for your response. She is on solid substrate. We have 29 reptiles, 7 of them beardies, and we found laying a long paper towel down makes cleaning up after them easiest. She is a ferocious eater and has tons of energy. How would she have gotten the fungus? We got her from another family that could no longer care for her about a year ago. She had unshed skin and we noticed some yellow discoloration here and there and so we thought it was just bad areas of old unshed skin. We bathed her frequently and covered her in coconut oil but her scales have always had bad areas. I know the previous owner used to take her in the shower with him.

I would have the skin patches tested by a vet to try and find out exactly what it is first. It's possible oral and topical antifungals are needed but it's not a given that's the case. In the meantime I would keep a close eye on the areas and note if they are increasing or spreading. Wash your hands thoroughly before and after handling her or anything in her enclosure to help protect against spreading illness to other reptiles. Using a good sanitizer such as F10 is also a good idea.

Agreed, this looks like a very bad fungal infection of some kind, there are many different types of fungal infections they can contract, most of which are extremely contagious and are spread by moisture. So you're much better off to not actually give her a "Betadine Bath", but rather to just dilute either the Betadine or better yet use Hibiclens instead and do NOT dilute the Hibiclens, but rather just dab some on a clean, dry, sterile cotton ball or piece of gauze, and then blot the Hibiclens on each individual patch/lesion. Hibiclens is more effective against fungal infections, and when you do not dilute it and just blot it directly on a patch/lesion, it acts as a protective barrier against most all fungi, bacteria, parasites, etc. so that she doesn't get any secondary infections. Just do that once a day, or if you want to just continue to use Betadine then just dilute the Betadine with water and dab it on the same way, instead of actually submerging her in diluted Betadine, as this will likely not help and actually make it much worse. Then do not rinse off the Betadine or the Hibiclens (especially the Hibiclens), you only need to lightly dab it on each area then let it dry, and then apply an over-the-counter Antifungal creme like Lamisil or Lotrimin (do not apply any topical antibiotics, as they will only make a fungal infection much worse).

You need to disinfect her entire tank inside and out and everything in it with F10 disinfectant, as if this is Yellow Fungus (no idea until you get a simple Skin Scraping Test done, which should be done ASAP so you can start oral Antifungal medications, like Voricozanole immediately), bleach will not necessarily kill it or other types of fungal infections. It also will not kill Coccidia and other protozoan infections, so using a reptile-specific disinfectant like F10 is best, especially since you have so many other reptiles, and no matter what this is, it is likely very contagious to all of them, and possibly to you too. Disinfect everything inside her tank, the tank itself inside and out, wipe down her light fixutres, everything with very hot water and F10, dry it well, then put down paper towels and replace them at least once a day. This is the best way to keep it from spreading and reinfecting her while she's being treated.

I would think with so many reptiles that you have a very good Certified Reptile Vet, so you need to make an appointment for her ASAP to have a Skin Scraping done immediately, because if it is a fungal infection that grows both internally as well as externally (like Yellow Fungus) she needs to be put on Voricozanole or another appropriate prescription oral Antifungal medication immediately, as the topical/external treatments will only serve to at the very most slow down the external spread of the infection, but the only thing that will treat it internally and give you any chance of getting rid of it is long-term treatment with an oral Antifungal medication.

Hello,

Sometimes bacteria can harbor underneath of unshed skin areas. Their skin sloughs off very
differently than ours does & bacteria can get trapped underneath of a scale then cause an
infection. That could be the case, hopefully, instead of a fungus issue.
Are you able to get her into a vet for a skin culture?
I agree, hibiclens is very good & definitely be sure to clean out the tank well with either a
steamer or F10 cleaner.
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

Thank you everyone for your replies. I know it's been a while but I wanted to update on Pepper. I ended up taking her to the vet after reading everyone's advice and it was indeed yellow fundus. The doc prescribed her a 60 day supply of Voriconazole to be given 0.1 mL orally once daily. The vet said it would cause her to shed as part of the process and it sure did, Pepper is looking much better now but the medicine is working from the inside out so while it is fixing the fungus from the inside, it will take a few shed to completely remove the dark scales from the outside though no new fungally scales should form in the meantime. He said I could use a topical fungal cream to help her outer appearance if I want. I don't like the idea of chemicals so I am choosing to wait for her body to repair itself on its own.

That's great news! Voriconizole has proven to be quite effective against YF and seems to be OK on them as a long term treatment. Combined with the topical antifungal cream, hopefully it will keep the YF in check and she will continue to thrive =)

Aw, poor little sweetie. Best wishes !