PLEASE HELP ASAP (I'm a very worried dragon mother)

[DumplingTheDragon]

I've been really worried about my beardie recently. He has some really weird scales that look shriveled up and if something touches them it causes him pain. Especially on his tail, if something touches it he wags his tail around and kicks with his leg. His birthday is in March(we're assuming) and he'll be a year old. I'm a new dragon owner but I made sure to do tons of research before buying him, and I still continue to do research. I'm just terrified theres something wrong or I'm doing something wrong. I'll attach some photos of the scales. He has a vet visit coming up in March as well so hopefully the vet will be able to tell me some things as well. I'm just very paranoid and I wanna see if I can get some answers.
Info:
Tank size: it's a 65-70 gallon tank

Heating: He has two 75 watt lightbulbs and one of them has the reflecting lamp.

Substrate: It's the calcium sand you can get at Petco. I tried using the carpet but for whatever reason he would refuse to come off of his hammock. he didn't like the carpeting.

Night light: he has a 100 watt black lightbulb for nighttime heating.

Since its winter and I live in an old farmhouse, it's hard to keep his tank as warm as it should be. I make sure to let him cuddle with me under the blanket so he can get heat from me and he also ADORES my heating pad so he'll sit on that for awhile. He gets plenty of sunlight because I set up a hammock in the window for him and he has a bridge he can use. it's connected to my bed so he can just hop off and go to the window whenever he wants while he's sitting with me. I let him run around for awhile so he can get exercise(with supervision of course) .

Food: he used to eat mostly crickets but lately he's gotten sick of them. He's been eating mostly roaches lately and he'll occasionally eat some raspberries, strawberries, and/or blueberries. I don't feed them to him too often, they're mostly just treats. I make sure to cover the roaches in calcium(same with the crickets).

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated !!

 

[Mollie the dragon]

make sure hes getting those greens tho, if hes only a year old he should be almost to a 80% veg and a 20% protein ratio, im not 100% sure on the nightlight bulb your using, from what ive heard it produces a purple light? I could be wrong but I would recommend a ceramic heater as they need NO LIGHT to sleep. As far as calcium sand, its a myth that they actually benefit from calci sand, i will say that loose sub is the way to go. I use the The Bio Dude Terra Sahara Bioactive Reptile Substrate. Thats all I have to say as far as the extra things im not very educated in the sickness of beardies so i wont say anything on that to lead you down a wrong path lol, he does look stressed tho but your doing great and hopefully someone will be here soon to see wassuppp

 

[Hobama]

I've been really worried about my beardie recently. He has some really weird scales that look shriveled up and if something touches them it causes him pain. Especially on his tail, if something touches it he wags his tail around and kicks with his leg. His birthday is in March(we're assuming) and he'll be a year old. I'm a new dragon owner but I made sure to do tons of research before buying him, and I still continue to do research. I'm just terrified theres something wrong or I'm doing something wrong. I'll attach some photos of the scales. He has a vet visit coming up in March as well so hopefully the vet will be able to tell me some things as well. I'm just very paranoid and I wanna see if I can get some answers.
Info:
Tank size: it's a 65-70 gallon tank

Heating: He has two 75 watt lightbulbs and one of them has the reflecting lamp.

Substrate: It's the calcium sand you can get at Petco. I tried using the carpet but for whatever reason he would refuse to come off of his hammock. he didn't like the carpeting.

Night light: he has a 100 watt black lightbulb for nighttime heating.

Since its winter and I live in an old farmhouse, it's hard to keep his tank as warm as it should be. I make sure to let him cuddle with me under the blanket so he can get heat from me and he also ADORES my heating pad so he'll sit on that for awhile. He gets plenty of sunlight because I set up a hammock in the window for him and he has a bridge he can use. it's connected to my bed so he can just hop off and go to the window whenever he wants while he's sitting with me. I let him run around for awhile so he can get exercise(with supervision of course) .

Food: he used to eat mostly crickets but lately he's gotten sick of them. He's been eating mostly roaches lately and he'll occasionally eat some raspberries, strawberries, and/or blueberries. I don't feed them to him too often, they're mostly just treats. I make sure to cover the roaches in calcium(same with the crickets).

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated !!

@Drache613 or @AHBD will be able to better help with the scale problems. he needs to be eating some salads at this age. im not sure if hes considered an adult or juvenile but at this age he should at least be eating 50% bugs and 50% salads. from what ive heard calcium sand is horrible for reptiles. i could be wrong but i dont think ive ever heard someone talk good about it. i dont know a lot about loose substrate so if you want to stick with that then someone else will have to help you. what are all of his temps at and what kind of uvb do you use?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How long have these scales appeared this way?
It is possible it could be fungal but not sure. For now, you could try using some lamisil or monistat
topical anti-fungal cream for a week or two just to see if that helps with the appearance of it. It sounds
like it hurts some, if he flinches to some extent. Or you could also use some silver gel, which would help
if it is fungal or bacterial in nature.
How is his appetite?

Tracie

 

[KarrieRee]

Heating: He has two 75 watt lightbulbs and one of them has the reflecting lamp. Please post pics of the tank- UVB and surface basking temps are crucial in the tank -- you need a digital probe thermometer for that - temps should be 95-100 -- UVB should be a long tube fixture NO coils and it needs to be properly placed in the tank depending on the screen --- humidity in the tank is crucial to the dragon shedding etc -- it should be 40-50% w/ a digital probe hygrometer analogs are always off --- the probe needs to be on the back center wall of the tank nothing under 20% and over 70% - the calcium sand please get rid of it -- they can cause bacteria infections -- you can get some textured NON adhesive shelf liner from Walmart or your local home improvement store - cut to the size of the tank --- insects cannot get underneath -- If you need links for good UVB's I can post them -- there are 3 that we recommend

 

[xp29]

Also the black light at night is no good. Please get and use a ceramic heat emitter, they produce heat but not light. If you keave any light on at night including a black light you eill disrupt hus sleeping and inbthe long term it can cause health problems.

 

[AHBD]

That tiny bit of common scale discoloration is a non issue, beardies can get tiny blemishes or a few random odd looking scales just like we can have the very tiny skin blemishes. Nothing really needs to be done, you can use a dab of Lamisil if you like but there's no problem here.
And please do post pics of the set up, do you have a strong enough heat bulb or bulbs ? How cold does your house get and how warm can you keep the tank ?

 

[DumplingTheDragon]

make sure hes getting those greens tho, if hes only a year old he should be almost to a 80% veg and a 20% protein ratio, im not 100% sure on the nightlight bulb your using, from what ive heard it produces a purple light? I could be wrong but I would recommend a ceramic heater as they need NO LIGHT to sleep. As far as calcium sand, its a myth that they actually benefit from calci sand, i will say that loose sub is the way to go. I use the The Bio Dude Terra Sahara Bioactive Reptile Substrate. Thats all I have to say as far as the extra things im not very educated in the sickness of beardies so i wont say anything on that to lead you down a wrong path lol, he does look stressed tho but your doing great and hopefully someone will be here soon to see wassuppp

Yes! I forgot to add in the greens part I'm sorry that's ny mistake. He used to eat lettuce all the time and basil. We got him is very own basil plant but he hasn't wanted any greens for a few weeks. It's like he got sick of crickets and greens. He liked to eat carrots but got sick of those as well. He uses to eat a lot of salad but ig he's sick of it?? I'm not sure what to do about that either.
(Also he was stressed because I held him up to take the picture. He's usually pretty chill)

 

[DumplingTheDragon]

Hello,







How long have these scales appeared this way?



It is possible it could be fungal but not sure. For now, you could try using some lamisil or monistat



topical anti-fungal cream for a week or two just to see if that helps with the appearance of it. It sounds



like it hurts some, if he flinches to some extent. Or you could also use some silver gel, which would help



if it is fungal or bacterial in nature.



How is his appetite?









Tracie

Also the black light at night is no good. Please get and use a ceramic heat emitter, they produce heat but not light. If you keave any light on at night including a black light you eill disrupt hus sleeping and inbthe long term it can cause health problems.

I used to have a ceramic lightbulb actually! It recently died so this is just a temporary thing for now. I believe I have one on the way but just in case I'll order a second one. Thank you for the tips though I thought it was only the red heat lamp that caused issues! I'll be sure to change it asap

 

[DumplingTheDragon]

Hello,

How long have these scales appeared this way?
It is possible it could be fungal but not sure. For now, you could try using some lamisil or monistat
topical anti-fungal cream for a week or two just to see if that helps with the appearance of it. It sounds
like it hurts some, if he flinches to some extent. Or you could also use some silver gel, which would help
if it is fungal or bacterial in nature.
How is his appetite?

Tracie

The tail specifically has been like that for a few weeks. It seemed to get a little better after some warm baths but I just noticed the back scales the other night while I was petting him. He just freaked out and started flinching after I pet over those specific scales so I got scared and posted here. His appetite was really good but recently he hasn't been eating as much.

 

[DumplingTheDragon]

That tiny bit of common scale discoloration is a non issue, beardies can get tiny blemishes or a few random odd looking scales just like we can have the very tiny skin blemishes. Nothing really needs to be done, you can use a dab of Lamisil if you like but there's no problem here.
And please do post pics of the set up, do you have a strong enough heat bulb or bulbs ? How cold does your house get and how warm can you keep the tank ?

Thank you! I heard somewhere that it could just be from his scales catching on fabric or whatever and going the opposite way that they're supposed to? Like a sore. Hopefully they're not an issue like you said though I just tend to worry!

 

[AHBD]

Yeah that's nothing at all, whatever caused him to be jumpy is just random. Lots of dragons have very similar tiny scrapes + such things, it comes from living on the ground among rocks branches + caves, whether fake or real.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Hopefully there isn't anything strange going
on with his scales. As AHBD said, they can
have some odd scales during sheds that
can sometimes get rough & get caught on
something.
You can go ahead & treat with lamisil or
silver gel to see if that helps out.
Let us know how things are doing.

Tracie

 

[Hobama]

Yes! I forgot to add in the greens part I'm sorry that's ny mistake. He used to eat lettuce all the time and basil. We got him is very own basil plant but he hasn't wanted any greens for a few weeks. It's like he got sick of crickets and greens. He liked to eat carrots but got sick of those as well. He uses to eat a lot of salad but ig he's sick of it?? I'm not sure what to do about that either.
(Also he was stressed because I held him up to take the picture. He's usually pretty chill)

like people bearded dragons can get bored of eating the same things over and over again. its good to add variety to there salads. Nutrition Content is a good site to help pick new items to add variety. the kale info is outdated. if he is refusing to eat salads he could probably benefit from a vitamin supplement until he starts eating them again. im not sure at his age how frequently he would need them though. at 1 typically they are recommended daily salads and bugs only 2-3 times a week. you might try mixing some cut up bits of the fruit into his salads to try and motivate them. from what ive seen the salads should contain mostly greens with some added fruits and veggies. you can order some black soldier fly larva to put on the salad that also double as a staple insect just dont dust them. hopefully by trying new things he will get his motivation back. what are temps in your cage and what do you measure them with? what kind of uvb do you use? these things are also very important in bearded dragons digestion and overall health.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is your boy doing today, any changes with the shedding issues?
Keep trying with the greens, eventually he will start eating them! Let us know how things are going!

Tracie