Hello!
I have some concerns about my beardie Wilmo today. Today when I woke up I noticed he is quite pale, and he hasn't wanted to eat anything all day. I noticed while holding him that he has developed a black patch of hard scales on his neck/chest area that sort of feel like a scab
Here is a picture of him (alittle pale) and the spot on his chest that
I was wondering if this could be fungal or if it could just be a scab?
A few pieces of information that might help determine the cause:
Wilmo has atadenovirus
Wilmo recently had a badly stuck shed, but it has mostly come off recently
He also (due to atadeno) has trouble moving his arms and often times has his claws up against his chest, right where this black patch is.
Hi Dante, Wilmo sure is a cutie. I think you could give him a short warm soak in a watered down betadine solution. Mix it to look the color of iced tea. Then use a toothbrush to gently scrub that area to see if it's possibly stuck poo or if it is something else. Use the toothrush by stroking downward on the beard.
Hopefully it's not fungal, poor guy already has enough trouble. If it is you can put some Monistat or Lotrimin cream on it to try + clear it up. Best wishes !
I did give Wilmo a bath today and rubbed the area, and it seems to be an actual patch of his skin as nothing cam off. It also has the texture of scales, but is hard and raised slightly. Is the only other possibility an infection?
It's most likely to be fungal so baths should be very limited and betadine used ,that way it can't spread as easily which fungus does. Can you get a picture again in better light ? Remember to get the cream I mentioned if this is fungal.
Hello again! Sorry for the late response, I had a hell week. Anyways Wilmo regained his color and appetite the very next day! And I also get a better picture of the dark spot on his chest. Do you think this is fungal?
It's still not a real clear pic but does look fungal. You can dab his neck a few times a day with the watered down betadine solution or chlorhexidine. Antifungal cream like Monists can be applied as well. If you have an experienced reptile vet you might want to have a skin scraping done to test it. Be careful of vets with no reptile experience though, the first thing they want to do is prescribe antibiotics which don't help but can actually make it worse.
Okay thank you! I’m gunna pick some up tomorrow. Is there a specific Monistat cream that’s best used with bearded dragon? Also is it possible that this isn’t yellow fungus? I’m pretty worried after researching yellow fungus.
Okay that’s good news! I’m going to keep an eye on the area and his behavior. Thank you so much for all the help! Tomorrow I’ll sanitize his tank and get him some new basking logs just Incase, as well as getting the cream.