PLEASE HELP!! What IS this?!

[Spider8ait1994]

It doesn't look any different but I did put the raw honey on it. Her appetite is good-- better than its ever been since she had surgery in March, actually. She's chill and alert. I'm going to give her another bath today and reapply the honey. I'm gonna keep watching her and try to get her an appointment when the vet opens.

I have the vet's cell number and could text him-- does anyone know if that's rude to ask for advice outside of making an appointment? Like if I just sent him a picture and asked what he thought?

I’m a bit late but in my experience vets don’t seem to mind if you ask for advice on an issue outside of an appointment. In fact I’ve emailed the reptile vet I take my boys to on a number of occasions to ask opinions/advice on issues that pop up or are ongoing.
They’ve always been happy to answer and it gives me a better idea of whether what I’m doing is right for the issue, if I need to adjust any treatment or even let me know if they think it’s something I would need to come in for an appointment so they can see in person.
It’s also been great with my older rescue dragon just to keep the vets updated on how he’s going with any ongoing issues.

 

[rubi9229]

Update. Not a good update, but an update.

I'm not able to drive myself to bring Pancake to the vet, so my parents unfortunately also have to be willing. My mom insisted I try to get a "virtual appointment" so she doesn't have to drive an hour "for nothing" despite there being something obviously wrong.

My mom called the vet a while back and was told I could send a very detailed email with pictures to the vet and get a phone call back, so she insisted I do that so she didn't have to drive me. (Which is ridiculous, since we physically need to be there for treatment anyway.) It's been days and I never received a call back, as I expected.

Well guess what? I just woke up to find her arm is twitching and I haven't even touched it.

NOW my mom is finally willing to take me. So I'll have an actual update later. I called the vet and they are only taking drop-offs so I'll have to leave her there and get a phone call later. And of course the receptionist talked to me like I was stupid for trying to get a virtual appointment. Thank you all for the advice. I'll be back to let you all know what's going on. I just hope we didn't wait too long. I'm so distraught over this.

 

[xp29]

Sending best wishes your way.

 

[Spider8ait1994]

Update. Not a good update, but an update.

I'm not able to drive myself to bring Pancake to the vet, so my parents unfortunately also have to be willing. My mom insisted I try to get a "virtual appointment" so she doesn't have to drive an hour "for nothing" despite there being something obviously wrong.

My mom called the vet a while back and was told I could send a very detailed email with pictures to the vet and get a phone call back, so she insisted I do that so she didn't have to drive me. (Which is ridiculous, since we physically need to be there for treatment anyway.) It's been days and I never received a call back, as I expected.

Well guess what? I just woke up to find her arm is twitching and I haven't even touched it.

NOW my mom is finally willing to take me. So I'll have an actual update later. I called the vet and they are only taking drop-offs so I'll have to leave her there and get a phone call later. And of course the receptionist talked to me like I was stupid for trying to get a virtual appointment. Thank you all for the advice. I'll be back to let you all know what's going on. I just hope we didn't wait too long. I'm so distraught over this.

I know what that’s like having to drop one off for treatment and having to wait and hope things are ok but if it’s any comfort she’s at the vets now so if there is anything happening she’s in the best place for treatment.
It’s also good you have this thread and your photos as documentation of the patch on her arm and how it’s behaving.
Hoping you get good news but not cool about your mother not wanting to really help you get her to see a vet in person. Bearded dragons are an animal that tends to hide any issues which means that it is important to have any abnormalities checked out ASAP and to regularly give them a full look over.
When I first got my two rescues it was explained to me that regularly checking them and getting to know what’s normal for them in both appearance and behaviour is an important part of their care because since they’re good at hiding any issues usually by the time it becomes undeniably clear somethings wrong the problems been ongoing for a while.
Yes vet appointments for reptiles are expensive but take it from me it’s a WHOLE LOT more expensive if you don’t get to an issue sooner rather than later so maybe that’s something you could talk about with your mother so if there’s anything that pops up in the future she might better understand why it’s important to physically see a vet over concerning abnormalities like this patch on your girls arm.
Again I’m hoping everything goes well for you and your dragon

 

[rubi9229]

I know what that’s like having to drop one off for treatment and having to wait and hope things are ok but if it’s any comfort she’s at the vets now so if there is anything happening she’s in the best place for treatment.
It’s also good you have this thread and your photos as documentation of the patch on her arm and how it’s behaving.
Hoping you get good news but not cool about your mother not wanting to really help you get her to see a vet in person. Bearded dragons are an animal that tends to hide any issues which means that it is important to have any abnormalities checked out ASAP and to regularly give them a full look over.
When I first got my two rescues it was explained to me that regularly checking them and getting to know what’s normal for them in both appearance and behaviour is an important part of their care because since they’re good at hiding any issues usually by the time it becomes undeniably clear somethings wrong the problems been ongoing for a while.
Yes vet appointments for reptiles are expensive but take it from me it’s a WHOLE LOT more expensive if you don’t get to an issue sooner rather than later so maybe that’s something you could talk about with your mother so if there’s anything that pops up in the future she might better understand why it’s important to physically see a vet over concerning abnormalities like this patch on your girls arm.
Again I’m hoping everything goes well for you and your dragon

Thank you very much. And yeah I have told her many times that beardies often don't show signs of illness like other animals would unless something's very wrong. She always says "but she looks fine." She said the same thing when I thought Pancake wasn't going to lay her eggs, and then she ended up needing surgery.

 

[rubi9229]

Update: Vet hasn't seen Pancake yet, but the vet tech called to ask in advance if it was OK to give her an x-ray in case the vet decides she needs one. (I said yes). They're thinking it might be an injury. If it's an injury that'll hopefully be better than if it's an infection, but I'm baffled by how she could've gotten hurt. If it's an injury, then she most likely got it at her last visit to the vet when they removed her sutures... which is kind of infuriating. Her upper arms only started to look dark like that after she got home from the vet last time. I wonder if they held her by them to take the staples out and she thrashed around and got hurt.

 

[xp29]

From your very first post that is kind of what i suspected to be honest.

 

[rubi9229]

UPDATE: Got off phone with vet tech. She said there was no inflammation or injury but that Pancake tested positive for ringworm, so it's fungus. Has anyone ever heard of a bearded dragon getting ringworm? I'm on my way to pick her up and talk to the vet right now.

 

[shmoomunchkin]

UPDATE: Got off phone with vet tech. She said there was no inflammation or injury but that Pancake tested positive for ringworm, so it's fungus. Has anyone ever heard of a bearded dragon getting ringworm? I'm on my way to pick her up and talk to the vet right now.

Interesting. I didn't want to say anything, but in the past my three kids that were in daycare got ringworm and it looks very much like your bearded dragon's lesion.

I had no idea that it looks the same on beardies (inner healthy area with white periphery).

Hoping it's an easy topical treatment. In humans, it's very contagious, and if it is the same, wash the heck out of your hands everytime you handle your baby! In humans, you put the cream on as prescribed and all should be well.

Off to look up ringworm in beardies!

 

[rubi9229]

Interesting. I didn't want to say anything, but in the past my three kids that were in daycare got ringworm and it looks very much like your bearded dragon's lesion.

I had no idea that it looks the same on beardies (inner healthy area with white periphery).

Hoping it's an easy topical treatment. In humans, it's very contagious, and if it is the same, wash the heck out of your hands everytime you handle your baby! In humans, you put the cream on as prescribed and all should be well.

Off to look up ringworm in beardies!

Yeah I couldn't find much info about ringworm for beardies. I just finished talking to the vet and he didn't call it ringworm like the vet tech did, just called it fungus. It's possible she just called it that because it's a ring shape, so now I'm not sure. He prescribed her athlete's foot cream (terbinafine hydrochloride). That should take care of it hopefully.

 

[xp29]

That's the same thing as used to treat ringworm in people akso

 

[rubi9229]

I'm gonna be giving it to her for 30 days and hopefully it'll clear up

 

[shmoomunchkin]

I'm gonna be giving it to her for 30 days and hopefully it'll clear up

If it is anything like human ringworm, after about five days, you should be good...despite the 30 day recommendation, it will probably clear up pretty quickly.

I can't find any good literature on this.

Good for you for getting your baby to the vet!

 

[Spider8ait1994]

Great to hear it’s nothing too serious and should clear up with treatment.
I had a cat a number of years ago who has ringworm and I do recall that the treatment did clear it up really quickly and didn’t leave any lasting effects.
As mentioned by others definitely wash your hands really well after handling her and it might also be worth giving her enclosure a full clean just to be sure. If you can find F10 veterinary disinfectant that’ll be the best cleaner you can use as it will kill nasties that a lot of other enclosure sanitisers won’t.
Additionally even if the treatment clears up the issue in a few days definitely keep it up for the full 30 days reccomended because I know that a lot of fungal issues state that you need to continue treatment for a time after visual signs dissapear because there can still be traces present that will pop back up if you don’t treat the problem for long enough (ie why you should keep treating athletes foot for a few days after it looks to have cleared up)
The arm twitches you noticed were likely a result of the affected area itching or feeling tender for her so I’m guessing that will also resolve with the treatment you’ve been given.

 

[xp29]

If you use f10 be sure to rinse it out and air it out to zero fumes, f10 is ammonia based