Reoccurring and Ongoing shed/skin issues.

[Sweetie_Cheeks]

My girl is almost 3 yrs old. Starting around 1 year ago I started noticing odd reactions after she consumed food or water. Her stomach looked like a thin band was tied around her stomach and stomach spasms/skin twitching started happening more frequently. I’ve take her to a total of 6 different reptile specialists and had tons of testing done along with blood work several times and most recently it was extensive blood work. All was normal except a few abnormal cells) is all the dr said. We gave her an entire course of antibiotics(needle injected at home) and again returned for blood work. All came back clear. However, I’ve been consistently telling the dr (her current one) and 3 vets before him: that she hasn’t been shedding properly the last couple of sheds and it looked like she had several layers. They completely dismissed me and kept telling me her skin looked completely normal. (I’m ocd with her and I mean that as I’m diagnosed with ocd) and I’m very observant and particularly observant when it comes to her) and I knew her skin didn’t look normal but they wouldn’t do anything for it. After a lot of help from different people on bearded dragon pages: I finally saw a bit of hope. It was a full body shed and was shedding so healthy looking. Then after a few days I started noticing what seemed like her shed retracting back and reattaching sort of. That’s when I got worried again. So back and fourth with this for about 2 weeks and the shed was completely stuck back to her body. I noticed her hands looked swollen and her legs looked limp. So I proceeded o help her remove the shed and it was 3-4 layers in some places. After about 3 days I got what looked like all of it off (super careful, didn’t pull anything or tear anything off, just did a million things to help loosen the skin and assisted while in the bath to get it all of the way off.)and her behavior bounced right back to normal and she was such a happy girl with the most healthy vibrant beautiful skin that she used to have before all of this started. That was about a month ago. Since then she has this black stripe on her chin and now all of a sudden a couple of days ago her tail is covered with scales seemingly turning black by the minute. The sides of her tale are real rough and she flinched if I touch it, her skin is darkenening again and she’s avoiding her basking around and doesn’t move around at all (like before) we’re right back to the skin issues and idk what’s happening to her skin and why the black spots have all of a sudden shown up this time?? We replaced her enclosure and I disinfected/scrubbed/rinsed/soaked then baked everything that goes inside. She has brand new tile flooring and lighting,temps and everything are all exactly how they should be. So I’m at a complete loss here. Not one of the 6 vets were of any help except the current one and that’s only due to the extensive blood work and antibiotics. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Sorry so long. Thank you

 

[Sweetie_Cheeks]

This is the stomach band I was talking about. It’s like she swells up but then goes back to normal size hours or the next day. Idk if it’s coincidence or not but I’ve broken out with a severe rash (allergic reaction) (according to the dermatologist) out of nowhere and it’s resistant to everything. I’ve had it for a year (same amount of time for shedding problems) and it will not go away. Could there be a connection somehow???

 

[Manateelova3000]

that sounds a lot like tail or skin rot, besides from that i have no idea, but maybe ask a vet about tail/skin rot and do a little more research on it, i hope they're ok!

 

[AHBD]

Your post was successful ! So anyway that's not tail rot, some beardies [ I've had myself ] just get blemishes that are harmless just like people do. The stomach band is just because she's pretty much overweight. So again, just like people , she has a roll going on there. Nothing wrong with your girl !

 

[AHBD]

You can put a little silver cream or raw honey on the tail .

 

[Sweetie_Cheeks]

Your post was successful ! So anyway that's not tail rot, some beardies [ I've had myself ] just get blemishes that are harmless just like people do. The stomach band is just because she's pretty much overweight. So again, just like people , she has a roll going on there. Nothing wrong with your girl !

Really?? You don’t think she has yellow fungus or anything?? I’ve been freaking out crying all day about this; especially because she’s been holding her left hand up all day and her tail has been lifting up as if she doesn’t want it touching anything. And why does her skin look dark and unhealthy again after she was full bright orange and white less than 2 weeks ago? It seems to be a viscous cycle going on. Is that normal?

 

[Sweetie_Cheeks]

She been holding it up all day.

 

[KarrieRee]

She been holding it up all day.

So she's got the dull look --she's going to shed- tail up she's alert- I would change that hammock out for a cloth one or a fleece one - the grass and green mesh ones cause alot of nail and foot injuries - www.etsy.com www.pamperedbeardies.com

 

[AHBD]

Really?? You don’t think she has yellow fungus or anything?? I’ve been freaking out crying all day about this; especially because she’s been holding her left hand up all day and her tail has been lifting up as if she doesn’t want it touching anything. And why does her skin look dark and unhealthy again after she was full bright orange and white less than 2 weeks ago? It seems to be a viscous cycle going on. Is that normal?

No, nothing there is yellow fungus . And I didn't mean to say that she is really overweight, she is heavier than she should be and it shows more in some pics. As for color changes, that happens pretty often with dragons for many reasons, going to shed, mood, temps., etc.

The feet pointing up is also common. Here's a thread with pics of a juvenile pointing it's back feet in the air.

Feet sticking up? | Health

Hey, all! We've had our beardie Gary for a couple weeks now, and we are guessing he's around 2 months old, since we rescued him from Petco. Everything's been going well aside from a couple of things. This isn't one of the more serious ones, but I'm just curious if other people are experiencing...

www.beardeddragon.org

Do be careful of feeding her too much protein as an adult, it increases the chance of developing gout. Is she walking O.K ?

 

[Sweetie_Cheeks]

You can put a little silver cream or raw honey on the tail .

Vet today said it looks and sounds like a textbook fungal infection. She’s scheduled for a skin biopsy on Monday. The worst part is when I asked her what the odds are of us beating this and her making a full recovery, she said everything but anything reassuring. She told me the treatment is intense and detrimental to their vital organs and it’s an extensive ongoing treatment that most beardie’s can’t handle but that we can start treatment and see how it goes/how well she handles it. This can’t be. There has to be other healthier options right?

 

[Sweetie_Cheeks]

No, nothing there is yellow fungus . And I didn't mean to say that she is really overweight, she is heavier than she should be and it shows more in some pics. As for color changes, that happens pretty often with dragons for many reasons, going to shed, mood, temps., etc.

The feet pointing up is also common. Here's a thread with pics of a juvenile pointing it's back feet in the air.

Feet sticking up? | Health

Hey, all! We've had our beardie Gary for a couple weeks now, and we are guessing he's around 2 months old, since we rescued him from Petco. Everything's been going well aside from a couple of things. This isn't one of the more serious ones, but I'm just curious if other people are experiencing...

www.beardeddragon.org

Do be careful of feeding her too much protein as an adult, it increases the chance of developing gout. Is she walking O.K ?

She hasn’t wanted to walk around or do much of anything lately. But I do notice it’s like her muscles are weak or that she struggles going from one branch to another or climbing in general. Her arms are really shaky but she still does it and is able to get around without falling or injuring herself from what I can tell.

 

[AHBD]

No way. I see that you've been to 6 specialists already and found no hep. This will be your 7th.

Is your vet is assuming this is yellow fungus ? Because the treatment for it can be harsh. Voriconazole may be the med. the vet is talking about ? Your dragon doesn't have Y.F. though.

Can you post a pic of her walking ? A little shakiness can be explained with a heavier dragon when they just get moving at times.

 

[xp29]

Does she have a dig box or is she allowed to dig outside? Or had she been kept on wood chips ect? The reason i ask, i used to keep one of mine on chips and they stained her and she looked similar to yours. I put her on tile and a couple baths with a scrub from a soft toothbrush and she was back to normal. (Just a thought). Make sure it isn't something environmental before letting the vet give her harsh meds.

 

[AHBD]

The little bit of scale trauma on the tail may also have been caused by the times you were scraping to help shed which is never recommended , but it should be fine with a little silver cream on it or even without. I think that your vet has you shook up. I think she's going to be fine !

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi there,

I agree with the above, I don't see anything wrong at all with your dragon. And with you already seeing so many specialists, I would hope that puts your mind at ease too. I've always been told, if you try hard enough, you'll find something wrong with yourself. I'm sure this applies to many aspects of life, including your beardie. If you keep convincing yourself that something is wrong, you'll always find something wrong with your dragon.

In the pictures, your dragon looks obviously well-fed (LOL), alert, and is displaying good colors. Dull colors is nothing to be concerned with if she goes dull every once in awhile. Your dragon looks healthy. And, she's got an owner that worries and cares for her. That's already a better start than the majority of dragons get.

Your dragon does not have yellow fungus. That looks nothing like yellow fungus. And like mentioned, not only is the treatment for yellow fungus extremely harsh, but its very expensive too. Not to mention just the fungal test to test for YF can be upwards of $1000 at some vets.

If there is anything I'd hope you get from my response, it's the following:

AHBD and I have been around this forum for many many years at this point. We both have our own experiences with dragons, but something we both also have is we've seen thousands sick (and not sick) dragons come through this forum throughout the years. One thing I know AHBD and I can both attest to, is the heartbreak felt when we see a dragon that really is fine, and does not need any type of medication or vet help, only for that dragon to get prescribed medications and end up going downhill quick when it was completely unnecessary to begin with.

We have both seen dragons end up dying for no reason because a vet felt they HAD to prescribe something. Or the vet/owner felt SOMETHING had to be done. When in reality, nothing was wrong, or it was so minor that the treatment was worse than the issue.

You have a healthy dragon, enjoy her

-Brandon