Hello everyone I just recently purchased a bearded Dragon from someone on Craigslist and I noticed a few things on which I'm worried about. One thing is that it has yellow on it's bottom and at the time of purchase I didn't think nothing of it cause I didn't know about yellow fungus and now that I do I'm very worried about it. Anyways can anyone tell me if it is a retained shed or Yellow fungus. I want to take him to the vet but right now I don't have the money but would like an estimated cost on getting him checked out. And also there is a small black scale on him that I can't tell if it is bad or just part of his pattern. Other then that he seems to be fine. He eats Crickets and Squash but as of right now all I have is a rock he can hide in or bask on top and a water bowl plus a 75w Zoo Med Repti Basking spot lamp and I also got a Zilla Digital Thermometer. I still need to get him some calcium powder and a UVB light and a Hydgrometer so I'm still setting him up but till I can get a UVB light I have been taking him out to sun bath. The Previous owner said it was 4 or 5 months old. And I do not know if it is male or female.
First 3 pictures are just showing the Beardie and his tank while rest are what I'm worried about. Thank you!
Since this is probably YF, you will need to keep the lizard away from other reptiles. YF is very contagious to dragons (not sure about other reptiles). You should not let the dragon run on your couch, bed, or furniture. If you decide to get another dragon in the future this present dragon with YF may still pose a danger especially if you let him roam around (even if he is deceased). It is my understanding that YF survives a long time in the environment.
I would not reuse his cage, food bowl, basking light and UVB fixtures for any other reptile, even with thorough cleaning, just in case.
No one can really give you an estimate on vet fees. A vet who specializes in exotics will most likely be more expensive than a dog/cat vet. If you do take your dragon to the vet he will want to run a fecal and treat for parasites, if count is too high. So right there you have the expense of an office visit, fecal test and possibly medication for parasites. There are oral meds for YF and YF needs to be treated internally as well as externally. I'm not sure if you can buy the oral med mentioned in the article link or if it is only vet prescribed.
Thanks for all the replies and sorry it took so long to reply back I've been really busy lately anyways I kinda have an update on it's progress and something weird going on with the fungus and seems some of it shedded off while some of it didn't and right now I still can't afford a UVB nor the treatment nor the vet. And sorry if it sounds like I'm neglecting it or that I didn't do my research cause I did it's just I'm having trouble finding me a job which is harder then I thought. But right now I'm having an even bigger problem and don't know what to do cause I sure as heck can't afford a vet right now but right now it's swelled up near it's vent and it is infected! I somewhat managed to get it's infection down a little with Triple antibiotic creme but the problem is it won't eat it's greens nor it's crickets. I'll post pics sometime tonight or tomorrow. I'm really worried for it cause I know it's hurting. But as for now I'm going to let it soak in the water for a bit cause I think he may be constipated. Also no I don't use substrate I actually use Paper Towels.