serious problem with scales.... help!

[Ker6176]

we have 3 babies. our oldest is 6 months old and had an absest (may be spelled wrong i apologize) on his tail. i took him to a vet who is amazing and she peels some of his dead scales off and he seemed ok. about 3 weeks later he has a crack going across his tail and you can physically see th epink under the scales. do they have skin under the scales or should i be even more horrified than i am. he doesnt repond if the girl dragon lays on the area or freak out when we look at it. i am trying to get him to a vet but there are no openings till next wednesday. does he have something under the scales to protect him from infection or should i bandage it up....HELP he has been through so much with breaking his fingers. he actually broke them so bad the next day it was necrosis. then the rest of the fingers followed. we have spent over 400 dollars per visit and go every other week. do we need to worry more?


help!

please dont ask about his habitat. that has nothing to do with what is wrong with him. i know everyone is trying to help by asking that but temps, substrates and everything are exactly as reccomended by others on the site and a vet. plus the other one besides a mutated thumb(birth defect) is perfectly healthy and chubby.

 

[spurlee01]

If you could post a picture it will help alot.

 

[Ker6176]

i wish i could. i have no way to get a picture of him..


does anyone know if they have more skin under the scales or is the scales it?

 

[ez2bbad64]

i am pretty sure the scales are it

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hello,

I am so sorry to hear that your beardie is having so many problems, poor little guy.

I am pretty sure what you are seeing is actually raw tissue and muscle in the cracked area of his tail. I am going to help you take care of it until you can get him in to see the vet.

First... you are going to need to get some Betadine and a triple antibiotic, such as Neosporin...ASAP! This can be picked up at any drug store.
Once you have that you need to make up a Betadine and warm water bath to soak your beardie. You want to put enough Betadine in the water so that it resembles the look of weak tea. You don't need alot of it. Put your beardie in the Betadine/water mixture.. making sure the tail is completely covered by the mixture. Let him soak in it for about 15 minutes. When done, gently pat dry the affected area with a clean cloth and apply the triple antibiotic. You may cover the affected area of the tail with a strip of cloth and tape the cloth to secure it. Try not to get the tape on the beardie.
Repeat the Betadine/water soaks a few times a day.

If you have any loose substrate in the beardies viv, please remove it. You want to keep the affected area as clean as possible.

From what you said it sounds like you may have one or more beardies together in the same enclosure. I would strongly recommend, if this is the situation, that you separate them or at the least... isolate the beardie with the injured tail. The other beardies climbing on his tail may not only slow the healing process, but will put alot of undue stress on the poor little guy. He needs to be as stress free as possible right now. A stressed out beardie can become a very sick beardie. I am saying this for the sake of your beardie. It is obvious that you care a great deal for him and I would like to see him get better.


PLease let us know how your beardie is doing.

 

[Ker6176]

oh my gosh thank you so much. i am very grateful. we seperated the two today and he is on news paper. they are both sluggish and trying to get to eachother which is cut but he needs to get better. he is getting his tail wrapped up and seems a little more comfortable. i have no clue how the vet can help him. it is at the top of his tail. this is what happens when you get abused dragons i guess...thank you for help and i still want as much input as everyone can provide!!!!!!!

 

[Ker6176]

after visiting a vet she actually peeled off dead scales that were building up on him and he is still showing the pink tissue. i was informed it is connective tissue and it is their second defense layer after scales. which was a relief. he still has a rough road ahead of him but he is feeling better and eatting like a horse. he loves the baths.


the vet things a fungus or bacteria caused this so he got his tests done so hopefully all goes well.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Glad you took him to the vet and he is on the mend. Was it some sort of retained shed that was building up on his tail?
Did the vet put him on any meds?
Keep us updated on your little guy.

 

[Ker6176]

so heres the update on dewie....

He is significantly better. For future reference to anyone that has this problem according to the specialist they do have connective tissue kinda like a thin layer of skin under their scales that scabs up. He is slowly on the mend and they took a fungal and bacterial culture to make sure it isnt something horrible like yellow scale disease. He tested negitive in every way. It was actually an absest between the scales and connective tissue. He has a small pink circle on his tail that is a scab and will need meds for a long time but at least he is happy. Now if i could get the daredevil to stop jumping and trying to climb the top of his cage. He broke 2 fingers about 2 months ago and it was down hill from there. He has a thumb left but it is coming off and we are just waiting for it. he is on baytril and benabac for his meds and hopefully the thumb will heal and be gone.

His significant other Dunnie on the other hand was the next to fix when her thumb was growing inward slowly cutting off circulation to her other fingers. Once they started to die off i took drastic measures and had a Vet take her hand. IT is better to take her hand now then have her sick in pain limping with the chance of necrosis and the dead cells spreading through her body.

Oh and a happy note. WHile at the vet dewie was trying to get to these two baby dragons that were left there by another owner (there were 6 but the others were given away) and so the vet put them together to see what would happen and he cuddled them, kissed them and would try to bite anyone who tried to touch them (he never bites) so now we have 5 total with the new hatchlings being zoey and zane. go figure. I go in for some surgeries and check ups and come home with a handless dragon, one with a pink patch and funky hand, then two babies no bigger than my thumb. They are in seperate vivs but still close enough to see eachother. just until zoe and zane are big enough to not be broken with a pinky.

 

[Freeie]

Im so happy to read that they are both doing great now. Sounds like your taking really good care of them. Do you plan on housing more than 1 to a viv?

 

[Ker6176]

AS of right now Dewie and DUnnie are together. WE tried to seperate them but both stopped eatting, didnt shed and slept all day. i thought it was jusst their hibernation until i gave them a bath and they both perked up. I moved the vivs next to eachother and they stopped eatting again, and just layed against the glass towards eachother. I put them back in the same viv and they are eatting, drinking, playing, basking and active again.

Ironhide is in his own. He is kinda a loner and mommas boy so he doesnt want to be around anyone else. He does like the babies and likes to visit them but he prefers HIm time.

Zoe and Zane are so tiny (like my pinky is bigger) and they are about 2 weeks old so they are together. They were that way at the vet and i dont want to seperate them until they get bigger. I know if i can find one tail the other is not hard to find either.

I know everyone tells me that they need to all be seperated but they grew up together, they adore eachother and sleep together, bask together, share food. It is what they like. If it ever become a hazard to either i will gladly seperate them but they are happy how they are and with all the horror stories i read about others having trouble with their dragons behavior wise im just doing what they want. Last thing we need with them and all their problems is them stressing because they want to be with the other. ya know?