BEARDED DRAGON SPIKES TURNING BLACK??? PLEASE HELP

[mollyandsav]

I’ve had my beardie Salvador (Sav for short) for a little over 8 months. On Friday I came home from my band practice and noticed some of his spikes were black. I am extremely concerned because I have never seen this before. He just went to the vet earlier this month because he developed a uri because of how high the humidity where I live got. I was thinking it could be a retained shed but I have no clue how to help him with that. He’s acting perfectly normal otherwise and still has his ridiculous appetite! I tend to worry about the smallest things with him but this is kind of freaking me out. I’m not exactly sure how to attach pictures but the blackish color starts at the base of his spikes and spreads up. Please help!!!

 

[Bmjo]

Post pics pls

 

[mollyandsav]

I tried uploading a picture and I hope it’s good enough quality that you can see what I’m talking about. The spikes around his face are the most noticeable. If you zoom in it helps.

 

[AHBD]

It doesn't look like anything to worry about. Can you post pics of his whole body as well as his tank set up ?

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[mollyandsav]

It doesn't look like anything to worry about. Can you post pics of his whole body as well as his tank set up ?

I have a 20 gallon with a 75 w reptisun heat bulb and a new 10.0 reptisun uvb light. His temps on the hot side are typically around 100 and his cool side is always in the 80s. I haven’t changed his diet at all. He still loves veggies and crickets. I’ll post the pictures in a second.

 

[mollyandsav]

Here is a full body photo and a picture of his tank. I am trying to save up money to get a bigger one for him but he seems pretty chill with his tank right now. Everything in his tank was completely cleaned and sterilized due to coccidia. Nothing in his enclosure or diet has changed and both objects are wood that he can scratch on.

 

[AHBD]

Other than being slightly thin, he looks pretty good. I don't see any black scales or spikes there.

 

[mollyandsav]

Yeah he does look a little thin and I’m getting him more crickets when I go shopping tomorrow. The closest pet store is nearly 30 minutes away so it’s hard to get him crickets every single day but he usually has a big cricket gut the black spikes are kind of on one side of him and you can’t really see them that good in pictures. I’ll try and get a better picture.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. He's cute. The uvb you are using have been known to cause appetite,lethargy and she problems. I would switch it with a reptisun 10.0 T5 long tube. Also how are you taking the temps? Is it with that stick on thermometer? If so those are very inaccurate. You need a temp gun or a digital with a wire probe. He would also be much happier in a bigger tank.

 

[AHBD]

Yes, post a few good pics of the other side tomorrow. I do see some difference so better pics would be helpful.

 

[mollyandsav]

The first two are showing the spikes on the sides of his body and the last one is so you can see the difference from the right side to the left side of his head. He already has a natural black color but his spikes have always been bright white and orange and it kind of looks like the spikes are withering?? I’m really trying to avoid going to the vet again if it’s nothing to worry about or if I can fix it myself.

 

[Bmjo]

Yeah he does look a little thin and I’m getting him more crickets when I go shopping tomorrow. The closest pet store is nearly 30 minutes away so it’s hard to get him crickets every single day but he usually has a big cricket gut the black spikes are kind of on one side of him and you can’t really see them that good in pictures. I’ll try and get a better picture.

I would advise ordering crickets in bulk probably a thousand every two weeks. It’s very important you feed him insects twice a day. I order from joshsfrogs.com

 

[KarrieRee]

Throwing my 2 cents in -- have you ever fed him Dubia Roaches? You can also get them on line at Dubia Roaches.com- they are fast and you get the order in 2 days--- I am feeding Hiccup straight Dubias along w/ horn worms butter worms and Nutri grubs w/ his greens of mustard collards and red rasp every other day- all of this comes from Dubiaroaches.com---

just thought I 'd share
Karrie

 

[mollyandsav]

Throwing my 2 cents in -- have you ever fed him Dubia Roaches? You can also get them on line at Dubia Roaches.com- they are fast and you get the order in 2 days--- I am feeding Hiccup straight Dubias along w/ horn worms butter worms and Nutri grubs w/ his greens of mustard collards and red rasp every other day- all of this comes from Dubiaroaches.com---

just thought I 'd share
Karrie

No I’ve never fed them to him before. I was always afraid he’d get impacted or paralyzed. We’re a little tight on money but my friend has bearded dragon so I was thinking on getting a shipment and splitting the cost. I probably won’t go to the vet unless the spikes fall off or something like that. Thank you for your advice!