Dark spot on vent area - HELP

[AHBD]

That's great ! It looks like it was just a patch of skin.

 

[bmjelken]

Yoda is doing great. Still wont eat crickets - so I have given up on them for now. He still eats his butterworms and will occasionally eat the greens I give him everyday. He has been through his first shed already

I do have a question about bugs. We live on a farm and have no small shortage of flies. They get in the house some how and we can't get rid of them unless we fumigate on a regular basis - and that costs too much money. So we just live with them, they don't live long and I just sweep them up. A few have found their way into Yoda's cage in-between the glass. AND HE LOVES THEM. He will chase them across the cage to eat them. He just goes right after them. He has never shown that much interest in any other bug I've tried to give him. So I figured if he will eat them I will give him some. He will eat 5 at a time. Anything that he will eat that wont harm him and gets him excited is a good thing. Now I have not seen anything on here about flies being bad - so that is my question. Are flies ok? I can't keep them from getting into his cage. But if they are bad - I wont purposely feed them to him. And yes I even dust them with the vitamins and calcium powders.

 

[Tonja]

I know you may not know this and that you are trying to get a good picture but be very careful holding your beardie so that he is on his back. They don't have a diaphragm and being on his back can collapse his lungs. No I would not feed flies as they carry parasites, and eat off of garbage and animal waste. What your babies food eats or carries as in pesticides goes into your babies system. No bugs from outside are ok as you don't know where they have been or what they are carrying.

 

[Taterbug]

He looks so cute! I'm glad to hear he is doing well!
I agree that wild house flies may not be a great feeder since you don't know where they've been.They aren't a common feeder so it might be a question for a experienced vet/specialist exactly what the risks are. You could look into breeding them yourself in an enclosure, I can't imagine it's hard, but probably gross. Have you tried black soldier fly larvae? (Phoenix worms). They are grubby like the butters but much more nutritious. As grubs they are a good source of calcium. They pupate into flies that some dragons love to eat as well (not high calcium though). If you are in the south us you can even culture them.

Tonja, where is that bit about the diaphragm from?

 

[Tonja]

From Drache613 telling people about not holding them on their backs due a lack of a diaphragm and it possibly collapsing their lungs also
http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/bearded-dragons-owning/1067
under how beardies differ from other pets
Also from my surgery book for reptiles
it states that beardies use the intercostal muscles <in between the rib muscles> to breathe as they do not have a moveable diaphragm. They cannot breathe using these muscles when on their backs and it can lead to collapsing of the lungs.