Raw scales on hand - glass-dancing injury or fungus?

[Juniper]

Norbert is a two-year-old beardie, who, after some rough patches with intestinal parasites and eating problems as a baby, has been very healthy for the last year and a half. The last week or so, she has been exceptionally lively--glass dancing and leaping around. I think she knows it's summer. I've been letting her out a lot to run off her excess energy. This weekend, I was out of town and my housemate was feeding her, but she stayed in her cage. I came home to find a patch of scales on the palm of her hand that looked red and irritated--either scraped up or sick. She was starting to shed on that hand when I left, so I'm also wondering if she could have irritated the shedding spot with her wild activity. I treated it as a wound, putting on a little neosporin and covering it with a patch of gauze and medical tape to protect from infection and further rubbing as it heals. But I also did some research on yellow fungus (because I'm terrified of it, like every beardie owner), and it looks like some pictures of the early stages. But yellow fungus also sometimes looks like a wound, so I don't know! She is on paper towels, which I change (and disinfect the glass underneath) whenever she poops, so I don't think her substrate is doing it any harm.

I'm sorry I don't have pictures for you. I don't have a camera that takes quality enough pictures for you to actually see what it looks like, but I will have access to one tomorrow and will post pictures then.

What I am wondering is how urgent it is to get her professional treatment if there is any chance of it being yellow fungus. She was just at the reptile vet two weeks ago for a check-up and he found her in great health. I am hoping to avoid going again very soon because I'm an unemployed full-time graduate student living on student loans and my dwindling savings, but I will of course take her if it is what she needs. If she might be sick, will a couple days of watching and trying to figure it out before calling the vet (like, Thursday versus today) make a difference in her prognosis? Her hand looks the same today as it did yesterday--does YF spread/become less treatable in a matter of days? Should I acquire betadine and lamasil or anything else and put it on her now just in case (or would that be counterproductive if it is just a scrape)? She is acting healthy, if that makes any difference. Very lively and eating normally. Thank you for any thoughts.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, if the wound looks raw and you want a vet to look, then a visit would be good. It doesn't really sound like fungus though, so it won't hurt to wait a day to make an appt. But if you want a vet to see it regardless because it's still looking irritated then go ahead, but be sure the vet really knows bearded dragons, otherwise you can waste your money and get a wrong diagnosis.

Please do post pics here tomorrow though, that will be helpful.

 

[Juniper]

Here are pictures of her hand!

 

[AHBD]

She definitely sustained some type of injury ( not serious ) in her tank or while roaming out of the tank. Is there anything sharp in her tank ? Can you post a few pics of it ? Is this how her foot looks after your treatment ? You might try raw, unpasteurized honey from a health store or beekeeper. It's a natural antimicrobial + heals stuff faster than the man made ointments. Then put a bit of gauze on + tape it again. In the meantime, check to see if there's any sharp edges in her tank that might be causing this.

 

[Juniper]

Yes, these are after the neosporin and bandaging. Upon inspection of her tank, the only thing that seems like it could scrape up her hand is her climbing log, a big piece of mopani wood with some rough bits. She's had it the hold time I've had her and has never done this before, but she's also usually much more calm than she was for a few days last week. I just now wrapped the log in a cloth napkin.

It's good to hear that it doesn't look like fungus. I'll see if I can get ahold of some raw honey today. Thank you!