Crusty/discolored lips (detailed pictures)

[orniter]

Hello,

I've had my new beardie for 3 weeks. Over the past week, her lips became crusty and discolored. She's still very active and responsive and her diet is normal (she's young so a few crickets per day and the rare vegetable, but it's hard to get her to eat veggies/fruits). She's in a 10 gallon tank now (have a 40 gallon ready when she's bigger). Reptisun UVB bulb is on 12 hours per day and a 150W ceramic heater keeps the basking spot at 95F and ambient tank temperature around 80F. I mist her 2-3x per day and give her a daily bath. She often opens her mouth when basking, so I know she's warm enough. The inside of her mouth is pink and looks completely normal.

What do you guys think? I tried looking this up online but didn't find much. Any help/advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[StaceysBuddy]

Hm.. I don't know. Hopefully someone can chime in.

Is there anything she can burn her mouth on? Like heat rock or something?

 

[Valerie]

I could be wrong but it looks like yellow fungus to me. I am sure someone will come along and will let you know for sure.

 

[orniter]

Thanks for the quick reply! There's nothing in the tank she can burn herself on (no heatpads or heatrocks). What's on her lip doesn't appear to be spreading - it just showed up about a week ago but hasn't gotten any better, either.

 

[Valerie]

Yellow fungus is not a burn but a fungus. Check out other posts that have pictures of yellow fungus on their bds and it looks the same as yours.

 

[Valerie]

I was thinking it also could be mouth rot. Mouth rot may be the same as yellow fungus but I would bet it is a fungus. It looks very painful. Cheryl at beardeddragon.co sells items that can help your bd buddy.

 

[NikTait]

Has it ever been sticky? Mucus around the mouth is a sign of a respiratory infection. There is a chance that it is dried mucus. Is it completely fine otherwise? e.g. breathing heavy at all or any sounds whilst breathing?

 

[NikTait]

Also, has she shed recently? And is she getting enough Vitamin A? And have you tried wiping it with a damp cloth? Very gently, of course. But more to see if it is a residue, such as mucus, or actually attached, such as retained shed or a fungus.

If it's mouth rot, you'd tend to find a discharge or bad smell when she opened her mouth - any signs of that?

When you mist her, do you mist inside the tank? If it is a fungus or respiratory infection, humidity can play a big part in it. You want to make sure the tank is not too humid.

 

[AHBD]

H there....has your baby been running in to the glass very much ? The 10 gallon tanks are pretty small, she might be getting overheated [ mouth open ] and be banging into the glass, and as was mentioned looks like a touch of mouth rot. I don't think it's yellow fungus...hopefully not. It might be best to set her up in her larger tank. If you can find some raw unpasteurized honey such as from a health food store, put some on her mouth. You can dilute it a tiny bit with a few drops of warm water and apply with a Q-tip 2 - 3 times a day. Just be sure there are no loose crickets in the tank at all. If you feel more comfortable with traditional meds., try betadine watered down to look like weak tea and dab on her lips 2 - 3 times daily. She may be dehydrated as well, so continue with the daily bath but drip water on her snout as well. Do this before you apply any meds. By the way, she would benefit from more than a couple crickets a day, she should be given as many crix as she will eat in a 10 minute period twice daily. You can also try Phoenix or reptiworms. I hope baby is better soon !

 

[orniter]

During a bath, I tried gently wiping her lips. That cleared up some of the crust/build up (see photos). I'll try to answer all of your questions:

• She shed a couple weeks ago.
  Doesn't seem dehydrated (she's active and drinks a lot when I bathe her).
  No strange breathing sounds (completely quiet).
  When I mist her, I don't mist the surrounding tank. I need to get a humidity gauge though.
  Her lips haven't looked sticky before, so it's probably not a respiratory issue.
  No noticeable smell when she opens her mouth.
  Her diet has dropped off - she might eat 2-3 crickets per day now but before she was eating 10+ daily.
  She hasn't been running into the glass much - I've only seen her do that a couple times over the past 2 weeks.
  She might be low on vitamin A since she doesn't like eating veggies. I've tried cactus leaf, carrots, sprouts, asparagus tips, mustard greens, celery leaves, deskinned apple, acorn squash (cooked/mashed) - once in a few days she'll take a bite and that's it.

Going to try the betadine today - thanks for the advice! Not sure if it's yellow fungus but it can't hurt to try.

Here are some updated photos so you can see her tank/setup and the inside of her mouth.

Thanks again for all your advice and concern! You guys are awesome

 

[orniter]

Update: I've continued with daily baths and dab betadine solution on her lips once per day.

Today she suddenly developed dark stripes under her chin that extend to mid-belly. If you compare this to the first pictures in this thread, you can clearly see her chin/beard was white a couple days ago. She's only a couple months old and not a male, so she's not going through puberty (which can also cause beards to darken). Other than that she seems a little slow to respond and not very hungry. Any ideas?

Edit: From what I could find, it looks like these are stress marks and usually nothing to worry about if they go away in a few days...

 

[StaceysBuddy]

Yeah, they appear to be stress marks. Nothing serious.

 

[daner923]

Stacey - I don't think they're nothing to worry about, given the shape of her mouth.

OP - Just so you know, females can black beard, too. Not just males. That looks very much like either yellow fungus as suggested or the beginning of some mouth rot. I really recommend you take her to a vet as soon as you can - either of those options is very dangerous, and with the stress marks may be the sign that she is beginning to not feel well.