URGENT ...PLEASE HELP, ANY INFO

[Pat24]

I have a sandfire red Dragon the pictures you are looking at are from day one to today, This is Day six of have him he is a male around 8 inches , he has a tail nip , I dont know his exact age but he is probably 6 months or more. Temps are good 105 on hot side 78-82 on cool side.Humidity around 20-30% dure the day and 40-50% at night, he gets 12 hours of light a day, he is very active in his tank , eats good , crickets and collard and mustard greens , baby carrots,squash,Kale,and some romain lettuce was only day one. He seems to eat better everyday, his crickets get dusted with calcium
with d3 5 days a week and multi vitamin twice
a week , he is properly hydrated , and has a repti sun 12 asvwellbas a basking light but what is worrying me is that he always has stress marks and all in on day yellow patches appeared on back , most of head and yellow skin on stomach. It happened very quick all in one day, its been 4 days so far and no soars have appeared , but im very afraid it is yellow fungus or something serious, I need sone advice badly there is no reptile vet within 2 hours and i dont know if i.could afford to take him now the first picture is day one and the rest are now.

 

[Pat24]

 

[Pat24]

 

[munchkins9802]

Moderators should respond, could be yellow fungus--will need some medication I believe for that. Or it could be he will change to that color but I am not a vet so I dont know for sure

 

[dragonlover3]

Hi,
Poor little guy! You've only had him for 6 days, correct? You noticed on day one the beginning of the coloring. I can see it in the first photo. It seems he may have had an issue when you got him.
It could possibly be a fungus. Here are a couple of things you can do to help. You can add Betadine solution to a bath, diluted to a weak tea color and soak him in it for 10 minutes or you can use diluted Chlorhexidine 2% solution to soak him for the 10 minutes. My vet gave me the Chlorhexidine 2% solution to use but I had also used the Betadine solution. I alternated them every other day. Make sure he does not drink any of it or get it in his eyes or ears. Make sure you repeatedly gently splash the solution up on his back to make sure all the area is treated. Don't rinse him, let him dry. Then you can apply either Miconazole 2% vaginal cream, better known as Monistat, or Lamisil athletes foot cream to the areas, spreading it to about 1 inch beyond the affected area. Soak in the Betadine or Chlorhexidine solution once a day but apply the cream twice a day, once after the soak when he dries, and again at bed time. This is the treatment I used on 2 of my beardies that had fungus. This may help but In my opinion he needs to see a vet.

Where did you get him from?....a private breeder?...a pet shop?....or a prior owner? No matter who, I'd contact them and tell them what is happening If it was a pet shop or private breeder and they are reputable I would think they should cover a vet visit, I would ask them to. If it is a pet shop or private breeder they may offer you another beardie. Since that usually isn't an option for many people because they've already fallen in love with their beardie I would insist on a vet visit being covered.
I'm sure some others will pop in to help. I will PM a moderator here, Drache613,...Tracie is her name and she is very knowledgeable and experienced in all things beardie including health issues. She will be able to help and advise. If she recommends something different than I have then please follow her advise. She is excellent.
I hope this helps and I'm sending positive thoughts your way!
Amanda

 

[Pat24]

I got him from a reptile show , i tryed calling the guy i got him from and the number is discobbected, he gave me a.business card.could it be anything else beside yellow fungus for the most part this happened in one day does it spread thay quick, he is very active abd doesnt serm sick other then he slways has has stress marks, There isnt any vets close to me that could help, I would gladly start treating him today , i hust want to be sure before i medicate him, he has a tail nip and could be starting to get tail rot could that play a roll in the yellow patches

 

[dragonlover3]

Hi,
It doesn't sound so good that the business phone is disconnected and you are unable to contact the breeder from the reptile show! It certainly could be something else, I'm not a vet and can't really see it distinctly other than the drastic color change and irregular pattern of it in the photos.

Yes, Fungus can develope that fast. Actually it is already developing before you see it and it can "bloom" in a few days. When my 1 beardie had fungus, on the first day I noticed a few discolored scales, in 3 days time it had developed down the right side in the scale row and tummy and across the chest area. My other beardie also developed it within a couple of days as well but in more random patchy areas. Following the treatment I described, daily, for the past 9 weeks, both of my rescue beardies are fungus free!

The stress marks can indicate a lot of different things. My beardies lost their appetites about a week or so after finding the fungus but were acting themselves when it popped out and didn't show stress marks initially.

I do understand wanting to know for sure what it is before treatment however a vet would need to do a culture of tissue to positively identify it. Since you say there is no vet near you, in lieu of doing nothing, the treatment will not hurt him even if it isn't a fungus and it is at least something to try to help him but of course the decision is yours!

And finally, can you post a pic of the tail? If you think the tail nip is turning into tail rot, which is a serious bacterial infection and can quickly spread unseen up the inside of the tail and into the body, you really NEED to find a vet and make the trip. If it is tail rot, left untreated it will kill your beardie. Tail rot needs aggressive treatment, most certainly antibiotic treatment to save his life with sometimes amputation of part or all of the tail as well. Tail rot is nothing to hesitate treatment with and I can't impress on you enough how dangerous and serious tail rot can be.

I've never heard of a tail rot turning the body yellow.
Others should chime in with offers of opinions and help. Also, I did PM Tracie and when is on line she will pop in to help also..
Amanda

 

[swohletz]

I would agree that discoloring is very suspicious. I strongly encourage you to start soaking the lizard in chlorhexidine and apply miconazole cream to the affected areas asap... even before a vet visit. Like said above, this form or treatment is very mild and will not harm the lizard, and it may help prevent it from spreading/forming sores. U will needed a prescribed medication in order to fully treat the fungus. In my experience (I work with bearded dragons) the fungus spreads more rapidly the younger the lizard...I don't know why, maybe because their bodies are smaller/weaker. If you have other dragons, u need to be considering your options on how to best keep this, if it is fungus, contained... separate, sanitize, change substrate, etc. Keep in mind that a lizard need not to be showing signs to be already exposed/carrying the fungus, that's the scarey part about buying seemly healthy bearded dragons from unknown breeders (or really anywhere, sadly).
I really hope that this discoloration is something else, but even so it would be best to just begin treating it as if it's fungus. See a vet soon if possible!
Hope this helps. Best of lucky!
- Sarah

 

[dragonlover3]

Antibiotics will make fungus worse. It would kill off any good bacteria in the beardies system that helps keep yeast and other fungi in check allowing the fungus to thrive and spread more.
You would need an antifungal treatment or oral antifungal if this is fungus.
This really needs to be assessed by a vet but in the interim I would again strongly advise to at least start the antifungal treatment.
That's the advice I and another have offered. Of course the decision is yours!
Are you able to post photos of his tail?
I hope your beardie will be ok!
Amanda