Hello Everyone, I'm new to this site and just wanted to see if anyone has had a similar experience with their bearded dragon. Our dragon is about 2 years old. She was diagnosed with yellow fungus by our vet about 4 months ago. It seems she probably got it from the pet store. He put her on antibiotics and terabinifine(oral). In the beginning she looked like things were improving. But now the fungus looks like it's spreading again. We do everything recommended in terms of cleaning, light, bentadine baths etc. We still are seeing our vet but he’s been alluding to the fact that Nom Nom just may not be curable. She is very alert and young. We refuse to give up on her. I've already been giving her things like Manuka to boost her immune system. We are completely open to alternative methods of healing if anyone has had any positive experiences with something. Any feedback I can get I would be very grateful. Thanks.
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Yellow fungus help
- Thread starter Nom Nom
- Start date
The fungus started with the large growth on her tail. A bit after being on the medication her leg turned black like that. she is not able to move it but she still has feeling in it. Within the past 8 days it has begun to spread again, to the spots on her belly and the tail, side of belly. There has been new skin growth on the base of tail.
We are trying to get another appointment with vet asap. (working with their availability) to determine if she is still a candidate of surgery and to reasses medication. Vet mentioned possibly cleaning up/removing infected scales. Regardless of all of this she is still active and interacts. Thank you for any help you can give.
We are trying to get another appointment with vet asap. (working with their availability) to determine if she is still a candidate of surgery and to reasses medication. Vet mentioned possibly cleaning up/removing infected scales. Regardless of all of this she is still active and interacts. Thank you for any help you can give.
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I am sending your post to two people that can help --- please find a good reptile vet from this website www.arav.org if your in a small town / area type in a bigger cities zip code closest to you--- in the mean time please go over your UVB coil or a long tube fixture ---- surface basking temps and how your taking them NO stick ons they are inaccurate you want a digital probe thermometer -- how old is the dragon and what kind of substrate are you using?
I got one response back here is what they have said
Sadly yes, it looks quite advanced . A reptile specialist is needed to help her. If she has a good appetite feed her more since she is very thin. Hope for the best but just know that this is a very serious case. Some oral meds. that have been used are voriconazole or terbinafine. Please find a vet asap---- use the website I posted please and go over the lighting in the tank --- I am waiting to hear back from the vet tech I reached out to - she usually responds late at night
Sadly yes, it looks quite advanced . A reptile specialist is needed to help her. If she has a good appetite feed her more since she is very thin. Hope for the best but just know that this is a very serious case. Some oral meds. that have been used are voriconazole or terbinafine. Please find a vet asap---- use the website I posted please and go over the lighting in the tank --- I am waiting to hear back from the vet tech I reached out to - she usually responds late at night
Thank you for the link. Our vet is a specialist, he is listed on the website. We understand it is an advanced case and know the repercussions of her taking the medication for too long on her liver. Which is why we were reaching out for possible alternatives to medication. Especially since it does not seem to be very effective. She has lost weight since getting sick. I’m currently feeding her repti grub pie with puréed vegetable. I just put some on the tip of her nose and she eats. She still has an appetite but not as voracious as she use to.
I’ve attached a picture of her enclosure we built her after she outgrew her tank. She has paper towel on the ground that I change and I clean the rest everyday With a reptile cleaner. We currently have two separate lights. The side where she spends the most time we have an exoterra solar glo (we cant remember the wattage but my husband did research before buying and made sure the distance was appropriate for the wattage) we understand that the tube lighting is best and intend of changing that eventually. The second light is just a uva/uvb light. Nom nom is close to 2 years old. She has not given up regardless of how advanced the fungus is, so we don’t want to give up on her.
thank you for all your help.
I’ve attached a picture of her enclosure we built her after she outgrew her tank. She has paper towel on the ground that I change and I clean the rest everyday With a reptile cleaner. We currently have two separate lights. The side where she spends the most time we have an exoterra solar glo (we cant remember the wattage but my husband did research before buying and made sure the distance was appropriate for the wattage) we understand that the tube lighting is best and intend of changing that eventually. The second light is just a uva/uvb light. Nom nom is close to 2 years old. She has not given up regardless of how advanced the fungus is, so we don’t want to give up on her.
thank you for all your help.
Attachments
What is the brand and bulb of the UVB? the solar glo is good for heat but not so much for UVB -- the coil UVB if that is what your using needs to be replaced immediately -- they are no good and will cause all kinds of health issues --- my thinking shes not getting much UVB -- I dont know how about the outcome of this since the YF is far advanced most do not make it --- I can post 3 good UVB's for you if you like but I would definitely change it out
I’m just curious on your thoughts on this.
Originally when we started seeing our current reptile specialist, about 5 months ago, the fungus was just on a little node on her tail. He started her on terabinafine and antibiotics right away. While on the medication the fungus continued to spread. We did have another appointment but he did not change any of the medication Or dosages even though he saw it spreadin. He has mentioned performing surgery to clean out the infected scales, but he is not sure she is a candidate. Our concern is that the terabinifine never actually worked. When we started treatment she was not so advanced, all of this new growth has been while on medication, while seeing a specialist listed on the website you provided. This is why we are looking for a more effective medicine or alternative medicine. We would like to be able to have some kind of option if there are any. In your time on this forum have you seen surgery’s help? Or perhaps other medications have better results? Thanks so much for helping us.
Originally when we started seeing our current reptile specialist, about 5 months ago, the fungus was just on a little node on her tail. He started her on terabinafine and antibiotics right away. While on the medication the fungus continued to spread. We did have another appointment but he did not change any of the medication Or dosages even though he saw it spreadin. He has mentioned performing surgery to clean out the infected scales, but he is not sure she is a candidate. Our concern is that the terabinifine never actually worked. When we started treatment she was not so advanced, all of this new growth has been while on medication, while seeing a specialist listed on the website you provided. This is why we are looking for a more effective medicine or alternative medicine. We would like to be able to have some kind of option if there are any. In your time on this forum have you seen surgery’s help? Or perhaps other medications have better results? Thanks so much for helping us.
Are you bathing her?
Yes, because that’s the only way she has ever drunken water. After I saw the fungus spreading more quickly (more recently) I started trying a bentadine bath for about 5 mins daily or every 2 days. Before that I just sprayed her with a bentadine cleaner by recommendation from the vet.
I don't think your supposed to bath them I believe it causes spreading - I am gonna reach out to the person I contacted still have not heard back from the tech vet have posted to her again
This is what she has said --
Yeah I think it's best to not bathe unless she gets dirty [ poo or something ] Might be good to add Betadine when bathing her [ 1 part Betadine to 10 parts warm water ] Raw unpasteurized honey might help the fungal areas since there are open sores developing.
Please start dropping water on her nose and let her lick -- or spray her head---- I would give no more baths tho
Yeah I think it's best to not bathe unless she gets dirty [ poo or something ] Might be good to add Betadine when bathing her [ 1 part Betadine to 10 parts warm water ] Raw unpasteurized honey might help the fungal areas since there are open sores developing.
Please start dropping water on her nose and let her lick -- or spray her head---- I would give no more baths tho
I don't have any info on the meds but the person I reached out to I think mentioned it in a earlier post- this is also why I am reaching out to the vet tech -
Hello,
Oh my, that looks very serious.
The vet didn't put her on an anti-fungal oral medication but prescribed an antibiotic instead?
Antibiotics will absolutely make any yellow fungus infection worse, not better in the long run. It affects the
body's bacterial system & throws it out of balance which causes more fungal/yeast problems.
I agree that the affected areas should be debrided to assess the damage.
Are you giving a probiotic to help out her system right now? I would recommend getting her started on one
to help start to balance out her system. Have you tried using topical silver gel on the affected areas?
The most commonly used oral anti-fungal medications are Itraconazole & Voraconazole. They are usually
the most effective ones.
I am glad to hear she is still active but this absolutely needs to get cleared up as soon as possible.
Tracie
Oh my, that looks very serious.
The vet didn't put her on an anti-fungal oral medication but prescribed an antibiotic instead?
Antibiotics will absolutely make any yellow fungus infection worse, not better in the long run. It affects the
body's bacterial system & throws it out of balance which causes more fungal/yeast problems.
I agree that the affected areas should be debrided to assess the damage.
Are you giving a probiotic to help out her system right now? I would recommend getting her started on one
to help start to balance out her system. Have you tried using topical silver gel on the affected areas?
The most commonly used oral anti-fungal medications are Itraconazole & Voraconazole. They are usually
the most effective ones.
I am glad to hear she is still active but this absolutely needs to get cleared up as soon as possible.
Tracie
Hi Tracie,
Thank you so much for responding. The vet did actually put her on an oral anti fungal, terabinifine. But it doesn’t seem to be working. He also told us in a follow up appointment not to stop antibiotics and did not change any medication even though he saw the fungus spreading. We have a follow up appointment with him in 10 days to see if he is willing to perform the surgery. If not we intend on trying to find a new reptile specialist. We have had a very difficult time finding specialist in our area.
If necessary would there be any way we could get the itraconazole or voraconazole on our own? I’m not certain if you read my first post but our vet was alluding to the possibility of nom nom being the kind of lizard that would not be curable and we are not ready to give up on her because she clearly is not giving up.
Would you be able to recommend a good probiotic for nom nom? I have given her honey to help her immune system but don’t think it is enough.
We have not tried the silver gel. We tried manuka honey originally, did not see enough improvement so this past week we started putting fresh aloe on her and it seems to be improving. Do you believe aloe is a beneficial for healing?
Thanks so much for your help,
Jessica
Thank you so much for responding. The vet did actually put her on an oral anti fungal, terabinifine. But it doesn’t seem to be working. He also told us in a follow up appointment not to stop antibiotics and did not change any medication even though he saw the fungus spreading. We have a follow up appointment with him in 10 days to see if he is willing to perform the surgery. If not we intend on trying to find a new reptile specialist. We have had a very difficult time finding specialist in our area.
If necessary would there be any way we could get the itraconazole or voraconazole on our own? I’m not certain if you read my first post but our vet was alluding to the possibility of nom nom being the kind of lizard that would not be curable and we are not ready to give up on her because she clearly is not giving up.
Would you be able to recommend a good probiotic for nom nom? I have given her honey to help her immune system but don’t think it is enough.
We have not tried the silver gel. We tried manuka honey originally, did not see enough improvement so this past week we started putting fresh aloe on her and it seems to be improving. Do you believe aloe is a beneficial for healing?
Thanks so much for your help,
Jessica
Try this website for finding a reptile vet in your area if your in a small town please type in a bigger cities zip code closest to you - I would go by Tracies advice and stop the antibiotic ---- this could be a reason why your not having any success ---- www.arav.org
please keep up w/ the honey manuka is great honey - not sure about the aloe vera --
Tracie has a website for the probiotic this is Tracies website https://bug-de-lite.com/
please keep up w/ the honey manuka is great honey - not sure about the aloe vera --
Tracie has a website for the probiotic this is Tracies website https://bug-de-lite.com/
Hi Sadie,
We purchased the products recommended by Tracie on her site. And stopped the antibiotics. We are discussing wether to keep the current appointment we have only because the possibility of surgery but honestly leaning more towards just getting a new specialist right away. There was one more in our area( on the website) . i began the manuka again and I will let you know what happens. I cannot thank you enough for your quick responses, your help, and your time. You have honestly been so much more caring and helpful than our own vet.
Thank you again,
Jessica
We purchased the products recommended by Tracie on her site. And stopped the antibiotics. We are discussing wether to keep the current appointment we have only because the possibility of surgery but honestly leaning more towards just getting a new specialist right away. There was one more in our area( on the website) . i began the manuka again and I will let you know what happens. I cannot thank you enough for your quick responses, your help, and your time. You have honestly been so much more caring and helpful than our own vet.
Thank you again,
Jessica
