Thoughts on these patches on tail?

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Goobz91

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I just adopted this female beardie a couple weeks ago. I noticed the day after I got her that she has these dark patches on her tail and I'm worried about a potential fungal infection? This is my first time owning a bearded dragon so I'm not sure exactly what to look for in these cases. Some background info on the situation:

-I adopted her from a couple who claims they rescued her from another owner so I am her 3rd owner now.
-The previous owner does not know how old she is but guessed about a year and based on her size she seems about that age.
-I have no idea what her enclosure conditions were like with her 1st owner.
-Her second owner was keeping her in a small animal cage with another male bearded dragon who I have also adopted but I have them in separate enclosures.
-The male does not have these patches despite being in the same enclosure with her prior to me.
-Previous owner was using a dirt substrate. I am currently using paper towels and changing them every week in case it is a fungal issue.
-Her appetite is totally normal and I have her on 80% salad and 20% gut loaded crickets and I am putting pure liquid calcium on her food
-She is completely fine with being handled and is quite affectionate and does not seem to experience any discomfort if I touch the patches.
-I have bathed her once per week since I got her in case of fungal issue and she does fine in the bath.
- She has pooped twice since I had her, the first time totally normal, and the second time not much white with whole undigested crickets.
-She seems like shes starting up a shed currently
-She is not very active at all and I've noticed over the last week that she seems very bloated but she did poop yesterday so I don't think she super impacted.

I'm in the process of finding a good exotic vet in my area but they are few and far between so I was wondering what you guys think in the meantime?
104821-3736241474.jpg
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
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Welcome to the forum! The patches don't look harmful to me. It just looks like new skin in areas that have shed against duller skin that is about to shed. I'm glad she has a good home with you now. With a good diet and high quality lighting she should bounce back well under your care. Please let us know if you have any other questions about her.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Whole undigested crickets ? That could be a lighting issue--basking temps? What are you using for your lighting? Brand and bulb and what are your basking temps and how are you taking them?
Karrie
 

Goobz91

Member
Original Poster
CooperDragon":l6o94fnt said:
Welcome to the forum! The patches don't look harmful to me. It just looks like new skin in areas that have shed against duller skin that is about to shed. I'm glad she has a good home with you now. With a good diet and high quality lighting she should bounce back well under your care. Please let us know if you have any other questions about her.


Thank you that's great to hear! I definitely will :)
 

Goobz91

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":3w4kwmxv said:
Whole undigested crickets ? That could be a lighting issue--basking temps? What are you using for your lighting? Brand and bulb and what are your basking temps and how are you taking them?
Karrie


So I got the enclosure with all of the lighting from my parents because my sister had a beardie that recently passed but they didn't have the best setup going. It's a 55 gallon and they had a 65 watt basking light white with a 65 watt red for at night. They were also using a zilla coil UVB bulb hood but I have since replaced those with a 100 watt basking lamp and just put in a reptisun 10.0 tube inside of the enclosure. I just did the replacements this week though since I've only had her a couple weeks and ordered the lighting online so I installed it as soon as I got it. Do you think her digestion will improve in time with the new lighting in there?
 

Goobz91

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":2usu5rj2 said:
Whole undigested crickets ? That could be a lighting issue--basking temps? What are you using for your lighting? Brand and bulb and what are your basking temps and how are you taking them?
Karrie

Sorry forgot to answer a part of your question! The basking temp is currently 90 degrees F but it's a regular thermometer gauge and I plan to replace it with a digital. The setup that was given to me was not great so I'm slowly replacing everything in there with better equipment it's just expensive so I've only been able to replace a couple things a week and I went with lighting first but will be getting a digital this coming week!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I would invest in a infrared heat gun its going to give you the most accurate temps for basking - the digital probe will be good for your cool side of tank -- but I would get a infrared heat gun from Walmart Home Depot or Lowes - they are usually around $10 -- to take basking temps---that basking temp should be around 95-105 or so--- once you get that lighting replaced you will notice a difference in her behavior and digestion -- it will improve right away--- the UVB is for nutrients and the basking is for digestion all the way around--- the Reptisun 10.0 tube is it the T 8 or a T 5 ? if its the T 8 it should be approx 8-10 inches from basking the T 5 approx 10-11 inches from basking area-the T 5 is a stronger bulb and only needs to be replaced once a year -- the T 8 should be replaced every 6 months--
Karrie
 

Goobz91

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":a7d3zc2n said:
I would invest in a infrared heat gun its going to give you the most accurate temps for basking - the digital probe will be good for your cool side of tank -- but I would get a infrared heat gun from Walmart Home Depot or Lowes - they are usually around $10 -- to take basking temps---that basking temp should be around 95-105 or so--- once you get that lighting replaced you will notice a difference in her behavior and digestion -- it will improve right away--- the UVB is for nutrients and the basking is for digestion all the way around--- the Reptisun 10.0 tube is it the T 8 or a T 5 ? if its the T 8 it should be approx 8-10 inches from basking the T 5 approx 10-11 inches from basking area-the T 5 is a stronger bulb and only needs to be replaced once a year -- the T 8 should be replaced every 6 months--
Karrie


Okay awesome! I'm building a custom enclosure so I have to make a trip to Home Depot anyways so I'll make sure to grab an infrared heat gun. Unfortunately with the UVB tube that was the one thing I didn't check because I didn't know. I'll check the box when I get home and make any necessary adjustments. Hopefully the heat gun will register a better temp but if it doesn't do you have another suggestion for the basking lamp? I already have a 100 watt in there since it's a 55 gallon enclosure and I read that was supposed to be perfect but if it doesn't read more than 90 degrees can I go with a higher wattage?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The gun is going to give you an accurate temp- go from there with the basking bulb
Karrie
 
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