Yellow seepage on back

[norbertbd]

I have a 6 year old male bearded dragon. His tank has a tile floor, Repti Sun UV light and basking light and rocks. It's the same enclosure his entire life.

He is in shed mode. There's a section of shed on his back where's there's a yellowish goo. I've given him a bath to try to help the shed.

Is there something I should put on his back to get rid of the ooze?

Thank you

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....can you post a few pics ? It's not normal to have anything oozing unless there is a wound or [ hopefully not ] yellow fungus . If you Google pics of yellow fungus you will get an idea of what it looks like, although it varies. Did you or anyone else try to pull off the shed before this happened ? I ask just to be sure to have all possible scenarios.

 

[norbertbd]

OK. Well I can't remember how to import an image to this page.

It doesn't look like the yellow fungus pictures. It's possible that he wounded himself while rubbing to try to get the shed off. I don't believe anyone tried to get the shed off for him, but they've been reminded not to do so.

It looks like the skin is split a little, as it does appear to go below the level of the top of his skin.

Should I just try putting some triple antiobiotic ointment on it and see what happens?

 

[AHBD]

To post pics, you can upload them to a site like Photobucket , then copy/paste the img here.

 

[norbertbd]

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Thank you. Here's hoping.

 

[AHBD]

Wow, how long did it take to develop like that ? It looks like a burn....is there any way he could get close to a heat element or light ? And like you said, it doesn't really look like Y.F. but I don't think that can be ruled out. You might spring for a vet visit, only an experienced one who might do a culture by taking a small scraping. For now you can put raw honey on it , it's a powerful antimicrobial used on all sorts of wounds. Just be sure not to have ANY loose bugs in the tank if you use it.

 

[norbertbd]

No. He can't get that close to the light. My son noticed it a few days ago. He might have slipped of his branch onto the basking rocks. I'm pretty sure my honey is pasteurized, I don't know if that would be the same as raw. I guess I'll try a triple ointment and see if it shows any improvement.

 

[norbertbd]

Took Norbert to the vet today after triple antiobiotic ointment or athletes foot ointment didn't make a difference. The vet considers it a sunburn. Almost 2 years ago we put a climbing log into his habitat that put him 5.5" from the bottom of the UV bulb. She says should be 13" from UV bulb. Also said the ReptiSun 10.0 is too strong and that it should be a 3 or 5. End result, this is damage that has been occurring over a long period of time that just became really obvious and part of why he was shedding so often. Left the vet with a $153 bill, some ointment and antibiotic inject tions every 3 days until the recheck. The log is now out of the habitat and will need to find something shorter for him to run around on.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is very odd. How close has he been to the Reptisun 10 tube bulb, the 5.5 inches? That particular bulb is not too strong though, a lot use it without any skin issues at all within a 6-8 inch distance. You are using the tube bulb & not the compact? At 13 inches, it will still be pretty effective as long as there isn't any screen or plastic in between him & the light.
It looks more like a burn from being too close to a basking light, etc. What type of basking light are you using?

I hope that it clears up soon for him. What cream did they give you?

Tracie

 

[norbertbd]

I thought the 13" was a little odd, too. But this office was recommended by people on this site years ago as very knowledgeable. He could get to the 5.5" from the UV light. The basking light is in the same position it's been since I made the habitat 6+ years ago. It's a modified version of the Crossfire that a lot of people use, so it's a lot taller than the viv's they sell at pet stores. The basking light is about 8" from the basking stone, depending on where he places himself. Its a 45W halogen on a dimmer, so I can adjust the temp to about 100 at the rocks. The cream is Silver Sulfadisazine, anti microbial. We put the branch in almost 2 years ago. He wouldn't use it for the first 6+ months it was in there. He has shed a lot since we put it in there, but it really hadn't occurred to me that the shed had become more frequent. I guess we'll see how this goes. My 11 yr old son not at all happy I chose the injections over oral. I figured less trauma for all involved and hopefully most effective. The oral was every day, assuming most of it stayed in his mouth.

 

[Taterbug]

What reptisun do you have? T5, T8 or coil?

What sort of basking light are you using and how are you measuring the temp is it possible the beam is too tight or has a hot spot?

Sometimes clinics have several vets and not all of them are equally experienced unfortunately I hope the meds help your guy feel better.

 

[norbertbd]

It's a T8 Reptisun 10.0, not a coil. I have a digital thermometer contact (like the one's recommended on here) on the surface of the basking rock, where the light is directed. It's the same as the last 6+ years. It's a halogen flood on a dimmer that allows me to adjust it to the desired temperature. You'd think if he was getting burned from that light, it would also be effecting his stomach when he come in contact with it, but it's just his back.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is he doing today?
I hope that the area starts to heal up soon.
The Reptisun 10 tube bulb should be fine & shouldn't be the reason for the wound though. For safety then since he is having this issue, you can move it to a 10 inch distance to see if that helps.
Be sure also that the halogen bulb is at least 10 inches from him too.
Is he possibly spending too much time too close to the bulb lately, or not?
Please let us know how he is doing.


Tracie

 

[Taterbug]

Sometimes the flood bulbs can have hot spot (either from the lens or the filament etc) that can be very narrow. An IR thermometer is handy for finding out if your basking spot is uniform, the probes are less precise.

Even if the rock is too hot while he basks body will block the heat to the rock so it won't stay as hot but his back would keep receiving heat.

 

[norbertbd]

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This is his cage for last 6+ years with the tall log taken out.

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This is his back after the doctor cleaned off a couple layers of shed.

Once Norbert "took" to his log, he only went to the basking stone after eating. He spent almost all his time on his log, right at the top. I will be monitoring his basking temperature closely.