Yellow fungus?? Please help :(

[KimNartemisia]

Does this look like yellow fungus? This discolored spot first showed up on her back in June but no one knew what it was and she was beginning to shed so I waited. Now she's completely done shedding and the spot is worse, is smooth, and she has gotten a second spot. Please guide me on this if you can!

 

[AHBD]

It doesn't look like it. Looks almost like a scar or burn that has healed. What is her set up like , what type of lights and can you show the placement of them, how the tank is set up ? Anything that she could have scraped it on, whether in or out of the tank ?

 

[KimNartemisia]

Thanks for the reply, AHBD. My first thought was that it was a burn, possibly from her heat lamp? She's never touched it and it's always 90-100 F but I first saw the spot when she was under her lamp and it was directly in the concentration of the light beam. Now a second spot is developing on her "shoulder" that's always under the spotlight. If she injured herself wouldn't there be a wound? The spot has developed over time. She would sometimes scrape her back on the entertainment center running under it but hasn't done that in awhile.

She is in a 75 gallon, tall tank, so she sits on a branch 6-8 inches from her reptisun 10 tube and so is probably a little over 12 inches from her heat lamp. I just use regular house bulbs, 75 watt. Basking 90-100 F, ambient 80 and cool spots of 75. I've been struggling with keeping the humidity low in our tiny apartment, it's usually in the 40s. Pictures below.

This is what the spot first looked like when I noticed it in June/early July:

Her set up:

The new spot developing:

Thank you so much for your help!

 

[AHBD]

I don't think the 75 watt at that range would burn....I wonder if when it got scraped a bit from going under the entertainment center, then the sensitive area got a burn just there. That's all I can think of. That sounds like a possible scenario. Maybe some one else or one of the mods. like Drache613 or Diamc has some thoughts on it if you p.m them. It might benefit from putting a bit of raw honey on it [ unpasteurized ] or plain aloe with no additives. I think it'll be fine, but watch that she doesn't crawl under there just in case that's what started it.

 

[KimNartemisia]

What about a 100 watt? It might be 75 energy wise but 100 strength wise? I pmed both we'll see. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[diamc]

Hi Kim. I just read your pm so thought I would look at the pics. It doesn't look like yellow fungus to me actually. It doesn't look yellow or even blackish which is what I have seen in other pictures here on this forum. You can take a look here if you want to see some pics: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/yellowfungus.html I tend to agree with AHBD that it is from a scape that possibly got burned. Had you at any time put any creams on her when you first saw that area in June that could have caused it to turn into a burn under the lights? The way she is sitting on her log in the picture, does put that area directly under the heat bulb.

I wonder if she might have fallen off her log & scraped it on the rock perhaps? Or even gotten underneath the hide somehow and scraped it trying to free herself. As you know, they can get themselves in some bad positions sometimes and are determined to get free.

Using the honey sounds like a good idea to try but I would be very careful that she's not sitting under the lights after applying anything and would put it on before bed so it has time to sink in and make sure the area is cleaned and not shiny before she basks again.

Drache613 (Tracie) usually comes on later at night and faithfully checks out the ER posts right away so I know she will be viewing it. Sweetiepie9 (Deb) is another moderator here and has dealt with yellow fungus herself so I will ask her to check in too to get her thoughts. I did send Deb a pm.

 

[KimNartemisia]

Well I'm certainly glad to hear it's likely not fungus.

Yes actually when I first noticed the spot I posted it and was recommended to put aloe on it. I did this for awhile and I did let her bask afterward. I didn't realize that would cause her to burn :/ I wasn't consistent with the aloe throughout August and September, but when she began to shed she seemed extra agitated so I'd put aloe all over thinking it would help! Could this be the explanation for the new spot near her shoulder?? Wow I'm not very bright!

Thanks for the speedy reply.

 

[diamc]

Don't blame yourself, some owners don't realize that any type of creams get hot on their skin when sitting under a heat bulb. I always try to warn owners about not letting them sit directly under the light after applying anything, so best to let it sink in overnight instead. I suppose this very well could be the explanation for the new spot.

Good luck with helping it heal, hopefully will clear up quickly with some raw honey, that helps with a lot of things. The next time she sheds it may not be as noticeable either.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I'm pretty sure it's not yellow fungus as my Titan had it and it never looked like that. I have a friend who has a uromastyx who had burns all over. Quasi has now healed but the scales of the skin that were burned presented exactly like your girl. I would think honey would help, manuka would be the best has it does have great healing properties, but as Diane said, put it on at night, every night so she's not under her lights. Is there a way to lower her basking spot, maybe put that log somewhere else and have her on his hide instead, or somehow lower that log.

Have you taken her to an exotic vet? That's what I would do. The only way to determine for sure if it's not yellow fungus is a biopsy, but they cost alot. Titan was burned on his head and once the burns healed (it was from a heat lamp that fell on him) they presented the same way. The vet is just a suggestion, I know they're expensive but it's the first thing I tend to do when one of mine presents something strange.

So try the honey but at night when her lights are off, see if there's any change in a week. Then go to the vet to have it properly looked at.

The top of Titan's head when I first got him. He was about 6 mo old at the time. This was in Apr/13 and he was diagnosed in Oct/13. Your girl would be presenting more than just this scarred area if it was Yellow Fungus, it's a very fast disease and always fatal. Titan was put down on Dec 19/13 because by then it was all through and over his body. So I'm pretty sure, if this presented in June of this year and we're now in Nov, that it's not Yellow Fungus.

April/13

Sept/13

You can see in the 2nd picture how the lesions on his head got worse, not long after this picture was taken, I took him back to the vet. She thought it was a bacterial disease so gave him anti-biotics, that made them get worse so we did a biopsy & it came back positive at the beginning of Oct. You can see it doesn't look anything like what your girl has.

 

[diamc]

Poor Titan, he went through so much. Thanks for posting here Deb.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

It doesn't really look like fungus, but a superficial skin issue like a burn. However, there are different types of fungus' though so you could try to get a skin culture done as soon as she sheds that area if possible to determine if it's fungus.
Trying the honey on it, or even some aloe vera would be helpful to soothe the skin. Does it seem to bother her at all? Definitely apply it at night when she is going to bed in case it could be a burn & be extra sensitive for some reason. I doubt that the aloe would have caused any issues though, but did it seem to get worse after that?
Has her appetite been normal lately?
As far as using a 100 watt light, if the 75 watt is getting the temperatures optimal then I would just stick with the 75 right now for her.
It definitely isn't your fault, things can happen to all of us & do no matter how experienced we are!


Tracie

 

[KimNartemisia]

Thank you everyone so much for the help. I've been traveling and have been unable to respond.

Sweetiepie9 I'm so sorry to hear about Titan. Thanks for providing photos of YF. I moved her light over her hide so it's a little higher up but still getting the right temp, we'll see if that helps. I've had to go out of town so I'm having the husband treat her with raw honey and I'll see what happens.

I haven't taken her to a vet, I guess I'm a little skeptical with "reptile vets", when I lived in Ohio I drove for hrs to visit a "reputable" reptile vet and he was not much help at all. But after her shed and seeing that the spot was worse/spreading I thought that I should take her in. Living in a small town so finding a reptile vet will be hard!

Tracie, no it doesn't seem to bother her at all. She did seem extra agitated this shed though and the shed seemed to take FOREVER. The thing with the aloe hypothesis is that I didn't begin applying it until AFTER I noticed the spot. My only guess, if it's superficial, is that she scraped her back, caused a sensitive area, and aloe under the light worsened it.

She eats much less salad but still has a huge appetite for roaches. A little picky about other bugs. But her appetite usually changes when she's shedding.

As for the light, it's one of those energy saving ones. "Power of 100 watt but only 75 watt", you know? Her basking temp doesn't reach over 100 F.

Again, thanks for all the help! I'll keep you posted on what's going on!

 

[AHBD]

I know what you mean about reptile vets, you never know if they really are going to be experienced + helpful or a waste of money.

I'm pretty sure that's not fungal, and I think the raw honey should help although the scarring will probably remain.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hope you find a good vet, but try the honey first for a couple of weeks. If it's a burn that's healed, not sure if anything will help but if it's spreading, then there's an problem underneath that needs to be addressed. If you can PM me your area, there is a data base for vets that I can check out for you. It's on a rescue site that I belong to, but PM me from here, it's easy to do and I'll get back to you, k?
I'm hoping the honey works and Manuka honey would be the better choice.

 

[diamc]

Good luck with her, please be sure to keep us updated on how she's doing.