Discolored scales on beardie’s belly

Hi everyone! About 2 weeks ago I noticed that my beardie Monty has some discolored (slightly yellow) scales on his belly. They seem to be mostly individual scales, not large patches. Some of them are peeling off individually and when they’re stuck kinda halfway on halfway off, they’re painful to him. His behaviors and eating are normal. He hasn’t shed his belly in a while but it doesn’t look like it’s about to shed either.
I am just wanting to make sure that this is not the beginning stages of yellow fungus disease because I know that needs immediate care. But I don’t want to go to the vet immediately because covid it makes it a lot more difficult.

I am going to try to post pictures here if I can figure it out...

Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

Ok hopefully these show up! He is a little upset because I woke him up from his nap to take these so ignore his dark marks lol

Hi there, perfectly normal. Beardies often have some discolored scales and at times blemishes here + there just like people have blemishes on our skin. Especially would it happen to a reptile that sleeps + lays on it's belly so there is always contact with the environment.

Hi!! Thank you so much for the reply. It’s so good to hear that they look normal. I am wondering though if it’s normal for these scales to kind of peel off partially and cause pain to him? I did kind of scratch one off and when I touched the area after it didn’t seem to hurt him anymore.

You're welcome ! BTW, never ever pull off any scales, that can do damage. Question though, you say his behavior is normal so why do you feel that he's in pain ?

So when there is an individual scale lifting off, like one of the yellow-ish ones, and I run my finger along his belly from head to tail, when I go over the partially lifted scale he flinches and tries to bat my hand away with his arm so it seems like it’s tender to be touched.

Also, what’s lifting up almost seems like shed but only an individual scale of shed? It’s not like his full scale coming off that would be very bad

And oh gosh no I don’t pull off his scales. What I meant was I just kinda rubbed at it gently until it came off because it was partially lifted anyway. But then when I touched that spot after the scale came off it didn’t bother him anymore. That’s what I meant, sorry I was not very clear before!

But his behavior, like eating and general personality and everything, are all normal. That’s what I meant sorry about me not being clear that’s totally my bad!

No problem in asking these questions, it's good to find out when you're not sure. About him flinching, beardies can do that when touching any part of their body depending on their mood. Just like you can play with a dog or cat and pick up their paw and they pull it back , same with their tail [ not that we should ever tease them ] It's just a reflex and could even be attributed to ticklishness or being protective of a vulnerable area.

Okay! Thank you so much for all your help. I have a lot more peace of mind now. I am so quick to jump to the worst conclusions because you search the internet and see all the worst images ? but thank you so much for everything ?

You're welcome, glad to help if I can. Stick around and post pics of him or ask more questions whenever you feel like it.

Thanks so much, I definitely will ?

UPDATE: today I noticed that the discoloration has progressed. I have a call in to my vet to get Monty in but I’m wondering what you guys think?

Will upload a picture as soon as I figure out how to again

None of the scales look damaged. It just looks like natural yellow coloring to me. I don't see cause for concern based on the photo.

I do agree that it looks like a sort of natural yellow color, but it is new (his belly is normally pure white) and progressing over the last few months. Would normal coloring do that?

Sometimes their color changes as they get older. Shedding can also have an effect on the scale colors so keep an eye out for signs of shed as well.