Tail Discoloration

Hello!
My beardie Acey was having issues with his tail and part of it was becoming pale and discolored (not shedding) and I took him to the vet. The vet said it was just a circulation issue and gave him an anti-inflammatory injection. I have some photos to see if anyone else has had a similar situation with their beardie's tail looking like this:

With neosporin (as told by vet):




His appetite is normal and very active.

Hi there, that actually looks worrisome. Has the tail always had the kink there ? Where was the shot given and does your vet have a lot of experience with beardie's ?

Hello.
The kink was always there, but the discoloration started a week or so ago.
I took him to a vet that has experience with reptiles in my city and the injection on the paper says 'dexamethasone'. The vet gave him an injection on top-side of his tail, near his legs.

Thank you for the quick reply.

Hello,

That looks very worrisome. I'm not jumping into conclusions and saying it's Y.F. But it is looking like that. Are there any other spots like this? I would PM someone like Drache613 or EllenD. They both have lots of experience with this and might be able to identify it.

Does he live with any other beardies? Or does he live alone? What type of substrate does he have? What is the brand of the UVB? Is it a coil or tube? T8 or T5? How long has this been going on?

I Don't believe it's something circulation related. I think it may be the beginning of Yellow fungus. I would go to a Certified reptile vet and ask for a skin scraping test to be done on the area to determine what it is. Again, I'm not entirely sure and I'm REALLY REALLY hoping it's not Y.F. I Hope I'm wrong. But it's looking like that.

Keep us posted.

-HippieLizards.

Hello.

I had a feeling it might be that, but the vet didn't mention it.
I checked him and there are no other spots like that on his body. I'll message them and ask.

He lives by himself, and his substrate is tile. I'm using a tube, Reptisun 10.0. It started about a week or so ago.

Thank you. I was looking up the yellow fungus photos and it's making me paranoid it might be that and that the vet didn't diagnose him correctly.

Oops, I didn't see your post. I Have never heard of dexamethasone (Did I spell it right?) so I'm not entirely sure that's a good medication. It's only been a week? Then that had really spread quickly. Has he been eating at all? How active has he been? When was the last time he pooped?

You seem to be taking good care of him Is the vet a reptile vet? an "Exotics" vet? or a regular vet? I fear the vet doesn't really know about reptiles very much. :| Here's a list of vets that specialize in reptiles http://www.anapsid.org/vets/ This is a lot of vets that specialize in reptiles. If I were you I would ask many vets and see many vets for second opinions.

I Hope the tail improves.

-HippieLizards.

That's alright. I'm a bit anxious so I'm eyeballing my inbox lol.

Its been a week, going on 2 weeks I believe. He's been eating fine (ate a bunch of hornworms and phoenix worms today), roaming around his tank and basking, and he went to the bathroom today.

Its a pet clinic that accepts exotics.
Thank you for that list. Strangely, the vet I took him to is listed there. Gerry Citek at Above and Beyond.

I appreciate your help so much

It's more likely to be [ possibly ] tail rot because of the strange kink and if it's a circulation problem that would contribute to it. But how long have you had Acey, this looks like it could also just be a strange shed.

BTW, I Googled that vet + the clinic and I was surprised to see a lot of bad reviews, many giving one star. One of the reviews says he is not licensed for exotics [ let alone reptiles ] Check it out for yourself. The reviews were here on on Yelp.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/above-and-beyond-pet-clinic-downey

Should I start soaking his tail in diluted betadine solution? I think I read that somewhere on here before.

That's insane. I dont know why he's still in business if he's not licensed for exotics. I'll look up another vet and avoid that one now.

You can dab the tail with betadine solution a few times a day. Soaking for 5-10 minutes would be fine, too. You just need to watch that he doesn't drink any of it.

How long have you had him ?

Okay, I'll start doing that. Is it safe to do both the same day? Say dab a few times during the day and soak at night?

I've had my beardie since Jan 2011.

Yes it would be fine. Dilute it with water so it looks like iced tea. Don't bathe him too late, he'd ned at least 2 hours to dry off completely.

Okay, I'll give that a go. Thank you.

I know its been a while, but I just wanted to update on my beardie. It was indeed tail rot. The newer vet I took him to tried to save more of his tail, but we ended up having part of it amputated. He still has about 3/4's of his tail left. At least now it won't be bothering him anymore.
Thanks everyone for the helpful information, and everything. I wouldn't have known where to look for a better reptile vet.

Good to hear that you found a vet that knew what to do ! Glad to hear about + hope Acey continues to improve.