Brand new beardie - but is he sick?

[theatrefour]

Hello, I am very new to bearded dragons—like, two hours ago. I've had reptiles in the past (red foot tortoise, red-eared slider), but this is my first beardie.
Long story about how I came to find him, which I can share later, but he has this yellow patch on his knee. Pet store said they thought it was stuck shedding. I was looking up something else and fell upon an article about Yellow Fungus. Had never heard of it before and now I'm afraid this is what he may have. Can anyone help provide insight? I am aware his back foot is slightly deformed. Also, I'm only 2 hours into beardie-dom, so please be kind, I'm trying to do what's best, and someone recommended this page.

 

[Sue E.]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Poor baby...how kind of you to rescue him! We have an excellent vet tech here..@Drache613, who can answer your medical questions but she goes on late at night. For starters, he needs 2 lights in his tank. One is a basking bright white light (Zoomed repti basking bulb or Flukers basking bulb). The pet store will have the bulb you need. Do NOT get the coil bulb uvb. The type of uvb you need is a long tube in a hood. Zoomed also makes this: Zoomed Reptisun T5 hood with 10.0 bulb (not the 5.0 bulb, the 10.0..if the bulb included with the hood is a 5.0, you can buy the 10.0 bulb seperately and just pop it in the hood.). Those bulbs (the basking bulb and the long tube uvb) are the most important things you can do for your dragon to help him. The coil uvb bulb that the pet stores sell is no good, so dont buy that one. Is your tank a 40 gallon? Here are some very experienced folks to help you!
@xp29
@AHBD

 

[theatrefour]

Hi, yes, thank you. He's currently in a 20-gallon tank, but I'm moving him to the 100-gallon where the tortoise used to be. My tortoise recently passed—we literally grew up together. The 100-gallon tank has the ultimate reptile setup, but I'm now hesitant to do anything with him if he's sick. The only reason why he's in the 20-gallon tank for now is that I realized one of the lids of the bigger tank is broken, so I had to order a replacement.

 

[Sue E.]

Are you familiar with the long tube uvb types? Can you post a pic of your dragon and of your tank?

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi, yes, thank you. He's currently in a 20-gallon tank, but I'm moving him to the 100-gallon where the tortoise used to be. My tortoise recently passed—we literally grew up together. The 100-gallon tank has the ultimate reptile setup, but I'm now hesitant to do anything with him if he's sick. The only reason why he's in the 20-gallon tank for now is that I realized one of the lids of the bigger tank is broken, so I had to order a replacement.

Please disinfectant the tank w/ F10- before putting the dragon in the bigger tank-- found on eBay it's a vet disinfectant

 

[AHBD]

Hello, I am very new to bearded dragons—like, two hours ago. I've had reptiles in the past (red foot tortoise, red-eared slider), but this is my first beardie.
Long story about how I came to find him, which I can share later, but he has this yellow patch on his knee. Pet store said they thought it was stuck shedding. I was looking up something else and fell upon an article about Yellow Fungus. Had never heard of it before and now I'm afraid this is what he may have. Can anyone help provide insight? I am aware his back foot is slightly deformed. Also, I'm only 2 hours into beardie-dom, so please be kind, I'm trying to do what's best, and someone recommended this page.

Hi there, that does look suspicious. The optimist in me is hoping that because beardies she in patches the area itself has shed early and he's actually that color. Time will tell but until then get some Lamisil or Monistat antifungal cream from drug store to apply there. If you can find an experienced reptile vet have a skin scraping done to test for Y.F
I hope that's not what it is or that it's a different type of infection/fungus that's not as bad.
Best wishes to you + your new spikey friend.

 

[theatrefour]

Hi all, thank you for your input. I did a televet visit with my reptile vet, and they said it did look like YF and said he needed to be seen immediately. The pet store said they would cover vet visits for 30 days, so I called them back and they're going to take him in. They were kind when I called, but when I went in to drop him off they snapped at me and said they had already tested him twice, but that was not communicated with me when I adopted him, nor when I called. They said they would let me know, and offered to let me pick another bearded dragon "for a discount". However, I wanted that specific bearded dragon because I felt a connection to him (I know it sounds weird...) I had been visiting him for months while shopping for my cat's diet food and my tortoise - no one wanted him because he had a deformed foot, but I fell in love.
I am really really heartbroken, and I am hoping for the best but they said if it was YF they would have to send him back to the... vendor/breeder? I don't really remember what they said because I was pretty upset.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi all, thank you for your input. I did a televet visit with my reptile vet, and they said it did look like YF and said he needed to be seen immediately. The pet store said they would cover vet visits for 30 days, so I called them back and they're going to take him in. They were kind when I called, but when I went in to drop him off they snapped at me and said they had already tested him twice, but that was not communicated with me when I adopted him, nor when I called. They said they would let me know, and offered to let me pick another bearded dragon "for a discount". However, I wanted that specific bearded dragon because I felt a connection to him (I know it sounds weird...) I had been visiting him for months while shopping for my cat's diet food and my tortoise - no one wanted him because he had a deformed foot, but I fell in love.
I am really really heartbroken, and I am hoping for the best but they said if it was YF they would have to send him back to the... vendor/breeder? I don't really remember what they said because I was pretty upset.

I would take care of the vet bills- sending back to the breeder just means they are going to let him die- take care of him yourself-- if he does have yf all the dragons he was with will have it yf is highly contagious

 

[Sue E.]

Aww so sorry! You are so wonderful for having that connection and not giving up on him. Sometimes those little beardies just touch our hearts! Please let us know how it goes and feel free to ask anything at all! Ill flag Tracie the vet tech too, like I said she goes on late but she will definitely respond.
@Drache613

 

[xp29]

Aww so sorry! You are so wonderful for having that connection and not giving up on him. Sometimes those little beardies just touch our hearts! Please let us know how it goes and feel free to ask anything at all! Ill flag Tracie the vet tech too, like I said she goes on late but she will definitely respond.
@Drache613

My first impression was yellow fungus also As far as I know there is no cure for it. Maybe it can be mitigated with proper care, but I don't know that for sure.
I'm not surprised you felt a connection to him. They are AMAZING little creatures.
This forum has lots of people that have decades of experience. Please ask about anything you need to know and also ask until you get the answers in a way that makes sense to you. Pretty much everyone here is happy to help
Also please keep us posted on your little guy, we worry about everyone elses beardies about as much as we worry about our own

 

[KarrieRee]

My first impression was yellow fungus also As far as I know there is no cure for it. Maybe it can be mitigated with proper care, but I don't know that for sure.
I'm not surprised you felt a connection to him. They are AMAZING little creatures.
This forum has lots of people that have decades of experience. Please ask about anything you need to know and also ask until you get the answers in a way that makes sense to you. Pretty much everyone here is happy to help
Also please keep us posted on your little guy, we worry about everyone elses beardies about as much as we worry about our own

If YF is caught early enough it can be treated --

 

[xp29]

If YF is caught early enough it can be treated --

That's good to know Can it be cured, or put into remission if caught soon enough?

 

[KarrieRee]

That's good to know Can it be cured, or put into remission if caught soon enough?

Cured- but it needs to be caught as early as possible - I have seen some that it had spread and the dragon didn't make it and then I have seen some that were treated and were fine--

 

[xp29]

Cured- but it needs to be caught as early as possible - I have seen some that it had spread and the dragon didn't make it and then I have seen some that were treated and were fine--

Man that's good to know, I thought the mortality rate was near 100%
Thank you for the heads up