Bearded Dragon's Face Concern

Hello everyone, so around 5 months ago I was told to use this blue stuff that came in a semi-large bottle, I stopped using it after 2 months as it was barely doing anything, recently it's started to get worse, and I'm really worried about his health. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what's going on and how to fix these problems, so hopefully, one day, clear up his face so he can be a happy bearded dragon again.

Some pictures:
https://imgur.com/a/Xu2eq

As you can see, there seem to be some burns, skin build-ups and it's overall not looking good. Today, I cleaned out his gave, gave him his own little bath & applied the medicine to his face.

Hi there....that looks like it may be yellow fungus. I hope it's not because it can be fatal. What is the blue stuff you wee using ? Have you seen a vet ? If not , look for an experienced reptile vet to do a skin scraping. I stress experienced because a vet that is not can do more harm than good. Here's a link to a site where the beardie has Y.F. on it's face and what the owner did for it.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjZkJjU2oLXAhWGMSYKHc2mAUwQFggoMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beautifuldragons.com%2Fyellowfungus.html&usg=AOvVaw0JxVfDWvbIwpjI349JwumD
I hope you can help your dragon, my heart goes out to you + him.

AHBD":37fra674 said:

Hi there....that looks like it may be yellow fungus. I hope it's not because it can be fatal. What is the blue stuff you wee using ? Have you seen a vet ? If not , look for an experienced reptile vet to do a skin scraping. I stress experienced because a vet that is not can do more harm than good. Here's a link to a site where the beardie has Y.F. on it's face and what the owner did for it.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjZkJjU2oLXAhWGMSYKHc2mAUwQFggoMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beautifuldragons.com%2Fyellowfungus.html&usg=AOvVaw0JxVfDWvbIwpjI349JwumD
I hope you can help your dragon, my heart goes out to you + him.

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I really hope it's not, it looks as though a big difference. There are no black spots of yellow marks appearing, I'll try to get her into an experience vet, thank you.

Buddy123":11dqjjwy said:

AHBD":11dqjjwy said:

Hi there....that looks like it may be yellow fungus. I hope it's not because it can be fatal. What is the blue stuff you wee using ? Have you seen a vet ? If not , look for an experienced reptile vet to do a skin scraping. I stress experienced because a vet that is not can do more harm than good. Here's a link to a site where the beardie has Y.F. on it's face and what the owner did for it.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjZkJjU2oLXAhWGMSYKHc2mAUwQFggoMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beautifuldragons.com%2Fyellowfungus.html&usg=AOvVaw0JxVfDWvbIwpjI349JwumD
I hope you can help your dragon, my heart goes out to you + him.

Click to expand...

I really hope it's not, it looks as though a big difference. There are no black spots of yellow marks appearing, I'll try to get her into an experience vet, thank you.

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And he's had this thing for over 6+ months, wouldn't it have already killed him?

AHBD":4s0vazi1 said:

Hi there....that looks like it may be yellow fungus. I hope it's not because it can be fatal. What is the blue stuff you wee using ? Have you seen a vet ? If not , look for an experienced reptile vet to do a skin scraping. I stress experienced because a vet that is not can do more harm than good. Here's a link to a site where the beardie has Y.F. on it's face and what the owner did for it.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjZkJjU2oLXAhWGMSYKHc2mAUwQFggoMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beautifuldragons.com%2Fyellowfungus.html&usg=AOvVaw0JxVfDWvbIwpjI349JwumD
I hope you can help your dragon, my heart goes out to you + him.

Click to expand...

I don't think its yellow fungus, but we're going to get the skin scrapped and vets to look at it soon (within this month).

For now you can put some raw, unpasteurized honey on it, especially the raw spot near his mouth. Raw honey is a natural antimicrobial. Yours may not be Y.F, but then Y.F can present in many different ways. Here are a couple in depth articles about it :
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwilg8ec_ILXAhXDOiYKHQmoB3MQFghAMAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everythingreptile.org%2Fyellow-fungus.html&usg=AOvVaw33seE0OMW6MoIuC0yuZdvv

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj_gIGpgYPXAhXD6CYKHS8QCIwQFgg5MAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reptilesmagazine.com%2FReptile-Health%2FDisease-Management%2FCANV-in-Reptiles%2F&usg=AOvVaw2xH-Z6t_PNOLoSL_OccZ5W

AHBD":2p7fmrt6 said:

For now you can put some raw, unpasteurized honey on it, especially the raw spot near his mouth. Raw honey is a natural antimicrobial. Yours may not be Y.F, but then Y.F can present in many different ways. Here are a couple in depth articles about it :
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwilg8ec_ILXAhXDOiYKHQmoB3MQFghAMAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everythingreptile.org%2Fyellow-fungus.html&usg=AOvVaw33seE0OMW6MoIuC0yuZdvv

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj_gIGpgYPXAhXD6CYKHS8QCIwQFgg5MAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reptilesmagazine.com%2FReptile-Health%2FDisease-Management%2FCANV-in-Reptiles%2F&usg=AOvVaw2xH-Z6t_PNOLoSL_OccZ5W

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Thank you, we'll be doing that tomorrow morning. And I went through the pictures, nothing looks like my bearded dragon.

I'm glad you're going to be getting him vet care finally, 6 months is a long time but hopefully whatever this is can be reversed. Stop using the blue stuff since you don't know what it is and it clearly isn't helping. Definitely try the raw unpasteurized honey like AHBD mentioned. If nothing else I'm sure it will be soothing.

It does look like it could potentially be Yellow Fungus. "Patches of bright to pale yellow, brown or grey can be seen initially. It has different color manifestations and is not just yellow despite its name. These patches spread and progress to become dark, elevated, cracked, and crusty lesions called hyperkeratosis." As you can tell by that description it sounds very similar.

"Yellow fungus is a fatal disease. After it was identified it was believed to be treatable with oral and topical anti-fungals. Poor anti-fungal management of the infection have shown any benefit to be very short term with no remission. There is no cure. There are products that make false claims to completely cure yellow fungus but this is not true.

When misdiagnosed and without biopsy a vet would order antibiotic believing it to be a bacterial infection. In some studies the antibiotics are shown to have contributed to making the fungal infection worse. Considering the extreme pain they must feel as this disease progresses euthanasia should be a consideration."

More info found here: http://www.everythingreptile.org/yellow-fungus.html

Akire":1e63d8b9 said:

I'm glad you're going to be getting him vet care finally, 6 months is a long time but hopefully whatever this is can be reversed. Stop using the blue stuff since you don't know what it is and it clearly isn't helping. Definitely try the raw unpasteurized honey like AHBD mentioned. If nothing else I'm sure it will be soothing.

It does look like it could potentially be Yellow Fungus. "Patches of bright to pale yellow, brown or grey can be seen initially. It has different color manifestations and is not just yellow despite its name. These patches spread and progress to become dark, elevated, cracked, and crusty lesions called hyperkeratosis." As you can tell by that description it sounds very similar.

"Yellow fungus is a fatal disease. After it was identified it was believed to be treatable with oral and topical anti-fungals. Poor anti-fungal management of the infection have shown any benefit to be very short term with no remission. There is no cure. There are products that make false claims to completely cure yellow fungus but this is not true.

When misdiagnosed and without biopsy a vet would order antibiotic believing it to be a bacterial infection. In some studies the antibiotics are shown to have contributed to making the fungal infection worse. Considering the extreme pain they must feel as this disease progresses euthanasia should be a consideration."

More info found here: http://www.everythingreptile.org/yellow-fungus.html

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If he does have it, you want me to put it to sleep? And we're bringing him to the vet in a few days to check up on him.

If he does have it I would use a combination of topical anti-fungal medication and an oral medication such as Voriconizole. There has been enough success using that combination that it's worth trying.

I agree, as long as he's not suffering. Once they have it bad enough + are not eating + look miserable for a time, then it would be the humane thing to do. But as long as there's some quality of life you can just take care of him the best you can.

AHBD":jmukkddg said:

I agree, as long as he's not suffering. Once they have it bad enough + are not eating + look miserable for a time, then it would be the humane thing to do. But as long as there's some quality of life you can just take care of him the best you can.

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Well, we're bringing him to the vet in a few days to get a check up. He's taking a bath and swimming around in it, he runs around, he eats his food, and I don't believe he looks miserable.

I'll second what everyone else has already said, I don't know what the "blue stuff" is, but it's obviously not helping him if this has been present for 6 months. And unfortunately it does look very much like Yellow Fungus, and the fact that it has been present for 6 months is very indicative of Yellow Fungus. It may be some other type of fungal infection, hopefully it is, but the only way to find out is getting a skin scraping test done, and done IMMEDIATELY. The key to successfully treating Yellow Fungus is getting them to ONLY an experienced reptile vet, preferably a certified reptile vet, either way be sure to ask them if the vet has a lot of experience with bearded dragons and with Yellow Fungus in particular, because Yellow Fungus must be treated long-term with both an oral antifungal medication daily, and also a topical antifungal medication daily, both prescriptions, and a lot of experienced reptile vets also give monthly injections of antifungals as well as very specific supplements to boost their immune systems and help them stay strong and keep up an appetite...

He looks quite small and thin...how old is he? How long have you had him, and did he have this when you got him or did it start to develop afterwards? Obviously he's at least a bit older than 6 months and has had this for at least 6 months, but he looks very small to me for being 6 months or older. Is he eating daily and normally? What is his normal, daily diet? I'm asking this because it is very important that you get his weight up and get him on the right track appetite and diet/supplementation wise so that he's strong enough to fight off the Yellow Fungus. What is your supplementation schedule as far as calcium and multivitamins?

Buddy123":3pgyc727 said:

If he does have it, you want me to put it to sleep? And we're bringing him to the vet in a few days to check up on him.

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No, no. I'm not qualified to make that decision and he isn't in my care. Not to mention that entirely depends on how much pain he is in and his high quality of life. If he is still fighting and his pain is manageable then of course you should try and see if he can improve. Even though there is no "cure", with the right medications his symptoms can be controlled and he could potentially go on to live a happy life.

Hello,

Yeah, poor thing, it does look a lot like Yellow fungus. It is treatable though, but you do need
to get it diagnosed as soon as possible & if it is fungal, only the oral anti-fungal are needed but
no antibiotics should be given.
As suggested, using raw, unpasteurized honey would be a lot more effective than what you are
using currently.
Do you have any probiotics at home that you could start him on, to help his system out in case
he does have fungal issues?
Let us know how the vet visit goes.

Tracie