Chilli Pepper & Yellow Fungus

Hey everyone,

I used to post often last Dec/Jan/Feb in the first few months I got my little guy, he's grown Massive since then. He started out as a hungry, beaten up little guy from a small pet store, with an eye infection. I researched, spoke with Reptile specialists, vets, you name it, and we tried a few remedy's like diluted Honey, or a specific Visine by Polysporin w/ a mild anit-biotic in it. It improved his eye a bit, but it never went back to normal. He still to this day, has no little Spike-Eyelashes as I call them that most beardie's have and as Chilli has on the right eye. So his eyes look very different. Within a few months he developed Yellow Fungus and it was originating from the infected eye and spreading down his face, and around his head, etc. The left side of his face still looks pretty bad, the skin doesn't shed properly and he looks like he's been punched in the eye in a beardie fight from the eye infection that left permanent damage.

Anywho, fast forward a bit, we finally diagnose him with Yellow Fungus from the Vet and was prescribed an Anti-Fungal medication (Oral) that was still in beta testing but in a study with 8 Bearded Dragons infected with YF, 7 of them were cured and lived, 8 was not cured and ended up passing away a while later. The odds sounded pretty good and he was so adorable and lively and wanted to live. Ate and eliminated just fine, etc :love5: So we went for it. The only thing was, I wasn't sure what flavor to get as they had Liver or Chicken for animal flavors. So I went with Liver. He would NOT eat anything with the medication on it, I tried syringe feeding him, he wouldnt take it. So they told me to wrap him in a towel and gently pull on this beard until he opens his mouth and then squirt it in near the back of the throat. This was traumatizing, he hated it, flipped around, beard out, it was heartbreaking. Needless to say, in the end I only ended up giving him like 5 doses out of a 10 week daily treatment. He is still loving life and growing, healthy. Other than the fungus which is interfering with Shedding, etc. Is this normal for YF beardies? Issues with shedding? Anyway, I called the Vet and they are willing to write the script again and request a different flavor, I'm going for Strawberry this time!!! I think he might like that on his salad! hehe. We are in the midst of re-decorating and re-organizing our home and near the end we will be building a Custom Triple Decker enclosure and adopt a 2nd and/or 3rd Beardie in the spring. He will have his king of the castle home at the very top We may even change his name to King haha. Anywho, just curious about those who are raising a beardie with YF, what your experiences have been, health issues, treatments you've tried, etc etc.

Thank you so much!!

Poor guy. The eye problems may have been the beginning of the fungal infection. What is the medication you're using? Voriconizole? I've seen Voriconizole be effective in treating YF. You can get a prescription filled by Diamondback Drugs in Arizona and they'll ship a month supply out with in a couple of days. The version I've used smells like watermelon. It wasn't all that popular (no medication is) but it wasn't feared either. That may be worth a shot.

So I've done a ridiculous amount of research on this disease and I have to say, that outcome is almost never good. I've heard rumors of reptiles surviving it, but couldn't find much proof. I had a girl that was treated with a daily dose of oral voriconazole for a month with topical treatment and a shot of the voriconazole. The fungus ate part of her face and at the end of treatment, it had developed around her vent. Left untreated, the fungus will result in a painful and slow death. Treatment has the potential to cure, but the vet I spoke to said that most often, the fungus will appear to be gone but lays dormant. The roots of the fungus go deep into the skin, making treatment difficult. When it comes to yellow skin disease, time is of the essence. The longer the fungus has to take hold, the more likely it will infect internal organs. Some reptiles have been saved by amputating any affected limb, like if only one hand was affected. I don't mean to discourage, as treatment can extend the life, but it usually comes back multiple times. At least as far as scientific research goes, I read through a published literature where every single case (more than twenty) ended with the death of the reptile. It's also spread very easily, so any other reptiles should be kept separate from this one. Anything in the tank should be disposed of or baked at a medium-low temperature for half an hour to kill any fungal spores. This is not a disease to be taken lightly and usually results in the death of the animal.

This was just my personal experience and discoveries when dealing with this with my own reptile and what I found out from my vet and research.

As a sidenote, the disease is potentially zoonotic, so if you or anyone in the household is immunosuppressed, they should avoid interaction with the lizard. This includes people with HIV/AIDS, on steroids for organ transplant, some auto-immune diseases, etc.

I suggest looking around the forums for peoples experiences. On the first page of this board alone, there are a few cases.