I am in desperate need of help. I am looking for any advice anyone may have... whether you agree with my suspicions and have any treatments tips as well. I have two bearded dragons, around the same age (I'm guessing they are about 6 or 7 months old). We bought them within a week of each other, their names are Fred and Jack. Fred has been nothing short of amazing. He's been growing at an incredible rate, eating well, looks wonderful. However, Jack has had some struggles along the way and I'm really worried about him. I've taken him to two different vets and haven't had luck with either. I called the vet again this past weekend and she suggested I just put him to sleep. I refuse to give up on Jack if there is any hope!
So here's his story: About a month after buying Jack he developed a white spot on his back. He was eating great and still very active. I called the vet after the spot didn't disappear from shedding and took him in. She said the spot looked like trauma from Jack running up against something (which he is the most active beardie I think I ever heard of so it was believable, he's constantly jumping off of and onto everything). We didn't do anything to treat that spot. However, she said Jack had hookworms and gave me antibiotics. It all went downhill from here. We finished the antibiotics and he seemed to be doing okay. Then his eating began to slow and that white spot never went away. He has never really grown since we've had him. He only weighs about 21 grams and we've had him since July. In comparison, Fred is HUGE.
I wasn't very fond of this vet, she didn't seem to know what she was doing, so I researched online to find herp vets in my area. I found one recommended vet and took Jack to her. She seemed very interested in helping me, but again, I feel like she had limited knowledge. She ran a fecal sample from Jack again and put him on two types of antibiotics, which he didn't end up having any parasites, so I was pretty frustrated that I put him through medications again for nothing. She gave me Silvadine cream for the spot on his back and developing spot under his mouth, and suggested that I feed him baby food with calcium added if he wasn't eating well. She thought he might have a calcium deficiency. I have ALWAYS supplemented their crickets with calcium and vitamin D3 and always offered veggies. I went out and bought a new bulb for their cage, one I had read about from this forum, the Repti-Sun 10.0. The cream seemed to help Jack's back as the "growth" on his back finally shed, leaving a pretty nasty scar, but it looked okay.
Jack finally stopped eating altogether. The area around his mouth seemed to have a buildup on it (which is yellowish in appearance). All the signs seem to point to yellow fungus, especially since he was treated with antibiotics. I am so upset with myself in retrospect that I never treated him with probiotics, but then again, the vet never mentioned anything to me and seemed to think nothing of putting him on antibiotics. I have been feeding him baby food with calcium supplements, and Pedialyte mixed in for his fluid and electrolytes. He is becoming very lethargic. I attempted to tell the vet this weekend that I think it might be yellow fungus but she really didn't listen, she sort of just suggested I put him down. I love my little Jack so much and want to avoid this at all costs.
The info on his housing: The cage is about 4 foot long by 2 1/2 wide. I recently changed the substrate to newspaper so I can change it DAILY (it had been alfalfa previously, which he used to rub his face in). I have a basking lamp (I have adjusted it so that there is a basking area of about 101 degrees (which Jack takes advantage of) and a cool side to the cage as well with a log for the two to be shaded in. I have the reptisun UVB bulb 10.0 which Jack is usually within about 8 inches from because he sits up on his rock closer to the top of the cage while basking. There are no heat rocks in his cage and never have been (so we knew the initial white mark wasn't a burn). I offer him dusted baby crickets, though he no longer eats by himself (he completely stopped eating by himself about 2 weeks ago). I do not feed him fruit baby food because I am aware that sugar should not be contained in his food if this is indeed yellow fungus.
His symptoms: yellowish buildup under his mouth and jaw, spreading to his eye area. He used to always rub his face on the bottom of his cage so this makes sense. The same buildup is present along the vent and under his arms and along his neck. His back also seems to be turning yellow as well. He does not eat, has become increasingly lethargic. But he is still ALIVE and I will do anything to keep it that way.
Currently I am still feeding him by hand, I have added Acidophiliz to his food as well and have begun to treat his back with Nolvasan and Lamisil as I have read from http://www.reptilerooms.com.
I am looking for ANY possible help you may have, any suggestions and improvements I could make are very welcomed. I just really want to save my beardie, and am doing anything I can. I do not want to put him to sleep unless absolutely necessary, and am pretty disheartened that that's what the vet wants to do.
So here's his story: About a month after buying Jack he developed a white spot on his back. He was eating great and still very active. I called the vet after the spot didn't disappear from shedding and took him in. She said the spot looked like trauma from Jack running up against something (which he is the most active beardie I think I ever heard of so it was believable, he's constantly jumping off of and onto everything). We didn't do anything to treat that spot. However, she said Jack had hookworms and gave me antibiotics. It all went downhill from here. We finished the antibiotics and he seemed to be doing okay. Then his eating began to slow and that white spot never went away. He has never really grown since we've had him. He only weighs about 21 grams and we've had him since July. In comparison, Fred is HUGE.
I wasn't very fond of this vet, she didn't seem to know what she was doing, so I researched online to find herp vets in my area. I found one recommended vet and took Jack to her. She seemed very interested in helping me, but again, I feel like she had limited knowledge. She ran a fecal sample from Jack again and put him on two types of antibiotics, which he didn't end up having any parasites, so I was pretty frustrated that I put him through medications again for nothing. She gave me Silvadine cream for the spot on his back and developing spot under his mouth, and suggested that I feed him baby food with calcium added if he wasn't eating well. She thought he might have a calcium deficiency. I have ALWAYS supplemented their crickets with calcium and vitamin D3 and always offered veggies. I went out and bought a new bulb for their cage, one I had read about from this forum, the Repti-Sun 10.0. The cream seemed to help Jack's back as the "growth" on his back finally shed, leaving a pretty nasty scar, but it looked okay.
Jack finally stopped eating altogether. The area around his mouth seemed to have a buildup on it (which is yellowish in appearance). All the signs seem to point to yellow fungus, especially since he was treated with antibiotics. I am so upset with myself in retrospect that I never treated him with probiotics, but then again, the vet never mentioned anything to me and seemed to think nothing of putting him on antibiotics. I have been feeding him baby food with calcium supplements, and Pedialyte mixed in for his fluid and electrolytes. He is becoming very lethargic. I attempted to tell the vet this weekend that I think it might be yellow fungus but she really didn't listen, she sort of just suggested I put him down. I love my little Jack so much and want to avoid this at all costs.
The info on his housing: The cage is about 4 foot long by 2 1/2 wide. I recently changed the substrate to newspaper so I can change it DAILY (it had been alfalfa previously, which he used to rub his face in). I have a basking lamp (I have adjusted it so that there is a basking area of about 101 degrees (which Jack takes advantage of) and a cool side to the cage as well with a log for the two to be shaded in. I have the reptisun UVB bulb 10.0 which Jack is usually within about 8 inches from because he sits up on his rock closer to the top of the cage while basking. There are no heat rocks in his cage and never have been (so we knew the initial white mark wasn't a burn). I offer him dusted baby crickets, though he no longer eats by himself (he completely stopped eating by himself about 2 weeks ago). I do not feed him fruit baby food because I am aware that sugar should not be contained in his food if this is indeed yellow fungus.
His symptoms: yellowish buildup under his mouth and jaw, spreading to his eye area. He used to always rub his face on the bottom of his cage so this makes sense. The same buildup is present along the vent and under his arms and along his neck. His back also seems to be turning yellow as well. He does not eat, has become increasingly lethargic. But he is still ALIVE and I will do anything to keep it that way.
Currently I am still feeding him by hand, I have added Acidophiliz to his food as well and have begun to treat his back with Nolvasan and Lamisil as I have read from http://www.reptilerooms.com.
I am looking for ANY possible help you may have, any suggestions and improvements I could make are very welcomed. I just really want to save my beardie, and am doing anything I can. I do not want to put him to sleep unless absolutely necessary, and am pretty disheartened that that's what the vet wants to do.
