HELP!!! Tail Discolored and Cracking.

I am about to give up. I feel like my bearded dragon is suffering.

I got Dodger in May 2015, and he was bout 3 months old or so. In about July or August of '15, I noticed his tail/near his bottom was discolored. Like he wasn't shedding right. I waited through a couple sheds, but it wasn't getting better. I took him to the vet, and he said to soak him everyday and try to pick at it a little to help the stuck shed come off. Every time I do, I get to pink/bloody tissue underneath. I don't pull very hard..before I know it, it looks like I've mutilated him. I can't take it much more. It breaks my heart. I don't want to hurt him, but I want him better.

Any ideas what's going on; how to make him better; WHAT DO I DO?!?!





*****The white in this last one is an antibiotic/pain relief cream recommended by the vet. Under it is all open pink/bloody tissue.


Extra info as needed:
Tank
He is in a 40 gallon breeder tank
Crushed walnut substrate
100W Powersun UV bulb; Some infrared light (it's small..just for heat overnight); and a fish tank light (to light up the other half of the tank)
Hot spot is about 110 degrees Fahrenheit
I never mist/spray the cage (no extra moisture)
Food
He always has water (never seems to drink it)
He gets 1-2 dozen dusted crickets a week
He gets 5 superworms with the crickets (and sparingly, 0-1 times/week, as a treat)
He gets "Spring Mix" lettuce every day (from walmart..contents seem to vary--Baby Lettuce, Baby Greens, & Radicchio in the one I just bought)
He gets other foods sparingly as "treats" (Banana, Snap Peas, etc)

Hi. I'm so sorry your baby is having issues. He definitely has yellow fungus. I'd take him to an experienced herp vet. He'll need to take meds orally and I'd put some antifungal cream on. No more baths as that makes it way worse by spreading it. Also I'd remove that substrate so that does not irriate his skin anymore. Paper towels for now. It's very contagious so if you have another beardie make sure they do not come into contact with each other at all.

destiny1998":3kjfesji said:

It's very contagious so if you have another beardie make sure they do not come into contact with each other at all.

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Could it spread to other reptiles? I also have a ball python.

Thank you SOOOO much for the information. I feel better now that I have some sort of idea as to what may be going on and actually have a direction to head into.

I'm really sorry to see that Dodger has Y.F. I don't think your snake could get it, but it's a very serious infection/disease and best not to let any animals come in contact with Dodger or anything from his tank . Wash your hands very well after handling him. You will need a very experienced reptile vet to help you and I'm sorry to say that the prognosis is not very positive with yellow fungus.

Hello,

Oh my, he most definitely has Yellow Fungus & needs immediate treatment.
An experienced vet will do a skin/scale scraping & a culture to determine which strain it is so he can prescribe one of the two oral antifungal medications.
For now, lay off of the baths to prevent further spreading & start giving probiotics such as non dairy soy yogurt, or non dairy acidophiliz to help balance out his system. Until you can get the oral antifungal medication, get some raw, unpasteurized honey to start putting on that area to help with starting to heal up some of the skin.
He will need extensive oral treatment to get it to heal from the inside out.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

Yellow fungus. Lay off the baths as they help spread it and apply some manuka or raw unpasteurized honey

****UPDATE****

I took Dodger to the vet. We are first treating him for the stuck shed/open wound issues. He is on antibiotic injections, oral pain medication, he is getting a daily 10 minute soak in a Chlorhexidine diluted mix then covered with an SSD prescription cream. The soak and cream will help break down the old stuff to help it come off. He has and will continue to receive cold laser therapy to help promote healing. We are following up with the vet on Thursday. After just two soaks, large chunks are coming off leaving more open areas. But at least now the tissues can get oxygen and the antibiotic cream and more benefit from the laser treatments. I'm very hopeful we're heading down the right path. I'm definitely going to make sure he has pain meds until he's fully healed.

Also, the vet said he looked dehydrated and underweight (likely because he was in pain, he's slowed how much he's eating). So I'm working on this issue as well.

Cold laser treatment, that's interesting. Do you know how that works?

CooperDragon":1wzeqzas said:

Cold laser treatment, that's interesting. Do you know how that works?

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I don't know a ton about it. I've only heard of it a couple times (using it on snakes when a mouse has chewed them up), and they explained it briefly. They did it in front of me. It was just a red light that she ran all over his affected areas. She did two treatments of probably 30 seconds. She said she has to keep moving it around because it does heat up. But to my knowledge, it increases blood flow or encourages more blood vessel formation which both increases healing. She said they even use it on themselves in the office. The girl said she broke her toe and used this, it healed really quick.

Cold lazer treatment is indeed interesting. did the vet mention if it was in his system? If it's not oral antibiotics may not be very effective, also bathing your beardie in a betadine bath watered down to look like weak tea and then applying lamisil or monistat to the affected area may help

Kevinthelizard":2wccm75v said:

did the vet mention if it was in his system? If it's not oral antibiotics may not be very effective

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I didn't have them do blood work because it would have been $160. So I don't know that it's in his system. And I believe injected antibiotics are better than oral. Oral meds take longer to get into the blood stream and may be destroyed in the GI. And it's VERY difficult to get an oral syringe in him right now. The vet said, with reptiles you want to inject toward the front of the animal (I have to inject in his front arm/shoulder). If you inject in the back end, it goes straight to the kidneys and is faster eliminated.

Alright, believe me I know how tough it is to get a siringe into their mouths. Sounds like he'll recover nicely

Hello,

How is Dodger doing this evening?
That is a good route of treatment. I do worry about the antibiotic making the fungus worse.
Did they do a skin scraping though, to send it off to the lab to culture it?
I have heard of cold laser treatments. They are used for skin issues on humans basically like for moles, etc kind of like using nitrogen to burn off skin issues. It is a little different but it should expedite healing.
I agree, injections are easier on the system. The shots definitely need to go in the upper arms, rotating them each time as to which side you give it on.
Which cream did they give you?

Tracie

Drache613":20i1s3yb said:

Hello,

How is Dodger doing this evening?
Did they do a skin scraping though, to send it off to the lab to culture it?
Which cream did they give you?

Tracie

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He seems to be getting better. I'm hoping when we go back to the vet we get good news.
No skin scraping. She wanted to address the more severe issues first (the caked on shed and open subcutaneous and muscle tissues).
SSD (Silver Sulfadiazene)

Here's a link from Reptile magazine on CANV [ yellow fungus ]
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjHkpPd2o7OAhXE4iYKHWUcCbIQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reptilesmagazine.com%2FReptile-Health%2FDisease-Management%2FCANV-in-Reptiles%2F&usg=AFQjCNGGDGa_7PZbQsvtcopDMLErLxLsqQ&sig2=lotD6NcsC4-PRRPn-97nqw&bvm=bv.127984354,d.dmo