Sick Beardie Who Is Losing Skin

[PufferT]

Hi! I have a 3 year old beardie that is just the sweetest thing, however she is getting very sick. She has a good diet of fruits, veggies, and crickets and gets a calcium powder and veggie powder with her crickets. Over the past couple of weeks she has had discoloration in her skin...I thought she was getting ready to shed as it was the color of her skin when she does shed. While I was giving her a bath and helping to get the old skin off, a large piece of all of the skin on her back came off exposing muscle and ribs. Needless to say I was freaking out!! I took her to the vet and she just gave me an antibotic and a cream to help promote skin growth, but did not really know what is happening. I have also noticed that my beardie's skin has a hue of green to it and losing more skin not only on her back but along her entire body (including the spikes along her beard and face), and seems to have lost her appetite. Has anyone else experienced this or does anyone have any advice for treatment or an idea of what is going on? Thanks so much!

 

[Jiffy]

Sorry that your beardie is so sick. I have never heard of what you are describing, so I cant help, but wante to bump up your post in case someone else could.

 

[missspamfritter]

omg x has your beardie been burnt at all ? is it a specialist reptile vet you go to if not ya need to get to one x check baskin temps and bulbs but ya defo need to find a better vet as i have had probs myslf lately with wrong diagnosis x

 

[NYDragon]

I'm just throwing this out there and by no means have a clue if this is correct but have you looked into a fungal disease such as Yellow Fungus Disease. It causes discoloration and dying of the skin. I think Tracie (Drache613) has talked about this before and may be able to help you. You could try PMing her. Good luck and I hope your beardie gets better soon!

Erin

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Sorry your pooper is sick. I have never run into this myself. Im sending one of the mods a PM.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That sounds very serious. It appears to be as suggested, either Yellow Fungus or some other type of fungal problem.
Can you run over your tank setup with us, quickly?
What are the humidity levels in the tank, currently?
What type & brand of UVB do you use, a florescent tube bulb or a compact coil light & how close is the bulb to her? What type of basking light are you using?
What type of diet do you feed her & do you give calcium supplementation on a regular basis?
What are the temperatures in the tank, & what type of thermometer do you use to measure the temperatures with? A stick on type, a digital probe or a temp gun?
In the meantime, I highly recommend getting a silver sulfadiazine cream which is very helpful with skin ailments. Or you can check your local CVS or Walgreens. They "may" have a silver cream in the pharmacy section by the antibiotic ointments & topical cream area.

This needs vet attention immediately because raw skin is exposed which will leave him vulnerable to infections that can make her very ill.

Do not give anymore baths at the moment until we figure out what is going on. They will likely need to do a skin culture to determine what type of fungus or bacteria is present. Do you have loose substrate like sand? If so, take any loose substrate out & replace with paper towels to eliminate as much dust & debris as possible.

Tracie

 

[PufferT]

Thank you all for you comments and suggestions. She is alert and does not seem to be in pain at this point, and hopefully won't be as more skin falls off (because it is!). And thankfully ate a couple of bites of lettuce today.

In response to the questions about my beardie's tank...I do not know the humidity level or the temp but I keep my apartment rather warm. As for a UVB light she does not currently have one, but does get lots of sun. The basking light is a 40watt GE Reveal. Her diet consists of lettuce, peach, mango and various fruits along with crickets, and does get calcium powder regularly. The vet gave me the silver sulfadiazine cream but its still early in the treatment to see if it works. She was in a white silica sand but is now on paper towel. And the oral antibiotic that the vet gave me is Baytril, .3 cc daily.

Thanks for all your help

 

[MALIBUSMOM]

How long has she been w/o UVB?Are u waiting on a bulb?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is she doing today? Did the vet not give you any topical cream to put on the skin?
What type of sun does she get, is it filtered through glass or do you take her outside? If she is getting sunlight through glass then she will not get any benefit of UVB from that.
How is her appetite doing?

Tracie

 

[PufferT]

Hi,

She is still not doing too good...more skin is falling off and her appetite is very low aswell. Still no signs of pain, which is very good, and still is active. She does get direct sun, it is not filtered through glass. I am using the silver sulfadiazine cream and it seems to be working on the open wound. I took her to the vet yesterday and they took samples to test for fungus disease. Now just waiting for the lab results...it should take about a week to get them back.

Thanks!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Ok, great, very good that you got her to the vet so that they could do a skin test for fungus. It will probably take 5-7 days to render results as it takes a few days for fungus to grow, if it does.
So the silver sulfadiazine cream is working pretty well then? That is so sad that she has skin coming off like that! I hope that she begins to improve. IF it is a fungus, she will need an oral antifungal medication as well as continued use of topical creams, too for several rounds.
How long daily does she get direct sun & what are her basking temperatures in the tank, daily? Does she have a regular basking spot that she spend doing basking at around 95-110?

Tracie

 

[STR3TCH420]

 

[STR3TCH420]

how is it?

 

[tank4102]

You needa basking spot of 100-110 degrees so she can digest her food. so i suggest getting a digital thermometer/hygrometer