Some scales on breadie's tail are discolouring and shriville

[lococonut]

My camera's out of commission. I'll explain what it looks like since it's hard to see pictures anyways. It is mostly occurring at about the 3/4 part of his tail (closer to the tip). Some scales are turning a weird blacish colour and begining to fall off. It seem that under them there are no scales and the skin looks very dry. It's quite sensative to the touch (he flicks his tail away). There is an oraangy circle around the other scales and the skin between them looks very dry.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what it could be and how I can go about making my breardie better?? We don't have enough money to go to a vet right now any suggestions I can do at home would be great.

I have a male beardie. Not quite a year and a half old. Around 20 inches long. He's not eating as much as he used to and not wanting any veggies but he has not lost any weight that I can tell. He has a heating light that puts his basking area at about 95 f. We have had a problem with the uvb light and he has been without one for a couple days but I have been trying to get as much sun on him as possible. The rest of his tank sits at around 75 f. I do not have a tool to check the humidity but I guessed it was too dry so I have placed a humidifier on low close to his tank.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Hi...Sorry that your dragon isn't doing so well..
How long has this been going on ?
Could you post his complete diet for a day ?
I'll need the exact brand of UVB, as well as how you measure your temps.
Do you see any type of fluids oozing from the wounds ?
How is he eating ?
Are you seeing any other types of behavior different from before the scale/tail issues?
How often are you giving him vitamins, and which brand are you using ?

Okay first, get a triple antibiotic, topical and apply every night before bedtime, after a good long (15 minutes) soak in the bath tub. Just a light coating.
Also, add mint to his diet, this has a pain killing property that you won't need to worry about over doing it with him.
Increase the hydration, with your salads. You can also use an aloe gel ( for sunburns) to help keep this area moist, but not wet.
Let me know how he is doing, and email me if you need to.
Janie

 

[lococonut]

I noticed this just yesterday.
He has been a very picky eater for the last couple of months. He eats super worms about every other day. He has not even looked at any kind of fruits or veggies for a couple of months so I have been making shakes and dabbing some on his nose so that he will like it off.
The UVB is a Repti Glo 10.0 30w. I check his temps periodically with a laser temperature reading.
There and no fluids. It is very dry.
He has been pacing and doing the glass dance quite often sporting a black bread but once I pick him up and hang out with him for a while he gets better...then I put him back and it happens again.
I use reptivit with D3 and I try to get him to take it at least every other day.

Where would I be able to buy the triple antibiotic?

 

[zebraflavencs]

Is there an odor? You can get the triple antibiotic over the counter in any drug store. Neosporin. Hold off on the aloe for now. If you can email me a photo.
When was the last poo? How often does he poo? does he normally walk through it, and soil himself?
Janie

 

[lococonut]

No stange odour.
He poops about once every three days since he doesn't eat very much. When he does it's usually in the bath and I get him out right away and rince him off.

Thanks for your help by the way!

 

[zebraflavencs]

Quite welcome... Okay, since this might be a retained shed, I'm not convinced without a good photo this might be necrotic or dying tissue. So let's do the neosporin nightly after his bath, and add the mint to his diet daily.

Do this for a week, and let's see what the outcome is... Okay ?
Janie
In the meantime, if you do see a change of any sort, do email me, immediately.
We'll take things from that point.. again, I can't stress how important a photo, taken about 8-12" away of the dragon will be to get a better diagnosis. I will want a photo of the dragon facing away, from tail up to head, one of the tail itself, as well as a front facing photo.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Also, change out that glo for a reptiSun 10.0 Linear bulb... The glo has issues all of it's own and we don't want to have to deal with those on top of this.
Janie
Link for the Sun:
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html

6-8" distance from the dragon, covering at least 1/3rd to 1/2 of the enclosure.