Strange lump on head a bad shed?

So I made my account just for this because I couldn't find an answer anywhere. My Beardie is going to be turning 5 years old soon and I've never had any health concerns with him. However, today I noticed that he had the strangle lump on the side of his head. Around November/December he started shedding before went into brumation, but didn't completely finish shedding. A couple weeks ago he shedded the remaining skin off but it didn't look completely normal. The parts that were left were this part on the left side of his head and some of the spikes on the right corner of his head as well as the very top of his beard. The scales where this bump is now still looked like it needed to shed and the spikes on the other side came out smaller than they were before, like he didn't fully grow the new skin while he was in brumation. However, today I noticed that the area on the left side of his head made a bump seemingly out of nowhere. I took a look at it and it seemed like there was a gap between the scales, and it is a bit of a pinkish or light red color. A tiny bit of blood (was a light red liquid so I'm assuming) came out. He doesn't seem to be that bothered by it because he doesn't do anything if I touch it. I know I think I have a logical cause in the shed but it has gotten me pretty worried that maybe he has a bigger problem. I will be taking him to a vet soon.
Here is the picture of it

Hi there, is it possible that there was/is a loose cricket in the tank that may have bitten him ? For now you can dab that with watered down betadine [ mix with water to look like iced tea ] and dab it on there a couple times a day with a paper towel or cotton ball. It may be a small abscess or cyst but it's too small to tell right now.


Can you get a few more pics ? And please be sure that your vet is a true reptile vet or they may not be of any help and can possibly even harm your dragon.

Sooner is better than waiting to see and delaying treatment of these , being so small it should be very quick and easy for a reptile vet surgeon to drain and debride the area if it turns out being an abscess , at the very least you need to get the small needle aspiration done on it to determine what is in it and the cause.

I agree, as it sounds like he had a lot of "retained shed" that occurred because of going into brumation during the middle of a shed. It sounds like some of the shed came off before the new skin underneath was ready, and this is what can cause the bleeding and such, so it's quite possible that it's a little abscess full of fluid that needs to be drained and hopefully just treated topically with antibiotics, not with any oral antibiotics. But as AHBD already mentioned, don't just take him to an "Exotics" vet, otherwise they'll do nothing but just look at him and put him on oral meds that won't help, and the abscess will just get larger. You need an experienced Reptile specialist.

Thanks for the help guys. I'm going to call my local pet store I go to for reptile supplies and ask them for reptile vets in the area. My mom is also friends with somebody who works at the place I got him from so I will see what she has to say as well.
Here are two more pictures. The first one is a more will-lit picture from the same angle as the first, and you can also see a tiny bit of the fluid that came out at some point and actually hardened. The second one is from the front so you can see how big it is.

That looks like a growth of some kind rather than a shed. It's suspicious though and I think it warrants a vet visit. The vet may be able to take some fluid from it and test it and possibly just drain it - whatever they think is best. It should be treated though because it is out of place and it is on his head meaning it could become critical more quickly than if it were on his leg or arm etc. This list might help you find an experienced reptile vet nearby http://www.anapsid.org/vets/ If you have a veterinary teaching hospital at a university in the area that might be a good place to go as well if they have a small animal clinic.

Hello,

That does look somewhat like an abscess to me, also.
I hope you are able to find a vet to try & drain that to culture. Is your dragon doing ok,
does he seem to be in pain at all?
Let us know how the vet visit goes & how your dragon is doing.

Tracie

Hello,

That does look somewhat like an abscess to me, also.
I hope you are able to find a vet to try & drain that to culture. Is your dragon doing ok,
does he seem to be in pain at all?
Let us know how the vet visit goes & how your dragon is doing.

Tracie

Update: I have an appointment with a reptile vet from the site that was linked tomorrow, but ever since I have been using the betamine + water solution it has gotten much better. It is barely a bump anymore and there is barely any color of the fluid left so I think this one turned out just fine. Thank you all for the help!

Hello,

Well, now that is great news then!
It sounds like he may have just had some fluid or bacteria build up under that area of scales
since he had been shedding some.
At least it is clearing up with the use of the betadine.
Let us know how the vet visit goes.

Tracie

Wow, yeah I had no idea it was actually that large an abscess from that first photo you posted, it looked like a tiny little bump of retained shed; that's not at all retained shed, that's an abscess. So that's why the Betadine and topical treatment has helped it, it was obviously leaking pus externally, so that was actually a good thing. If it's shrinking down on it's own then be careful to not just allow the vet to put him on an Antibiotic without first taking a needle aspiration of the fluid and sending it out for a culture to determine exactly what bacteria is causing it, and what Antibiotic this specific bacteria will be sensitive to. Exotics Vets have a really bad habit of simply putting them on Baytril (Enrofloxacin) without taking a culture, and if it is not the correct Antibiotic for the specific bacteria causing the infection, then they end-up taking a whole round of the Baytril and then having to take another entire round of the correct Antibiotic once they finally decide to take a culture, and their kidneys cannot handle too many meds.