My Baby BD has a wierd mouth fungus

Question

His fungi/disease/cut   QUESTION: Hi, I just got a baby bearded dragon for christmas and at first he was doing fine. About 5 days ago he got really thin so I started reading some of the questions here, now looks like he is regular, possibly a little fat, he eats plenty of greens and crickets, but there is one problem. He has, on the tip of his mouth what appears to be a fungus of some kind. I will attach a picture. But whenever I try to see what it is he jerks hid head back. Please tell me if he needs treatment, something from the petsmart, or just time to heal! Thank you so much and please answer ASAP! P.S. a little bit of it fell off and it looks kinda better. You have to look really close to see it.

ANSWER: Hi Mitchell

Unfortunately your photo was too unfocused for me to get a really good look at the area. I could see that the front of his mouth looked quite white. Has he shed recently and is it possible that you are seeing some retained skin that didn't come off? Is it possible that he is about to shed and what you are seeing is loose skin? Loose skin will appear very white. Has the white area gotten larger over the last few days or appear to be spreading? You said that it looked better where some of it had fallen off so it sounds like the area is not red or sore underneath the white area, that is a good sign.

If it is not spreading and is not sore, red or oozing liquid then I would suggest that you just observe it for a few more days. You can take a moistened Q-tip and gently touch the white area to see if that helps remove anymore of it. If it is just dried skin then moistening it will help you to remove it. Move the swab from the "lip" upward toward the nostrils.  
If you remain concerned that it could be infected in some way then you can lightly swab the area with a bit of Betadine solution which can be purchased at drug stores. Betadine is effective against both bacteria and fungus.

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QUESTION: My dad brought him in to Underground Reptiles and their guy said it looked like a cricket bit him and told me to buy a spray, but he also is shedding at the moment, is it possible he got bit while in shed?

Answer
Hi Mitchell

I really think that what you are seeing is related to shedding and that the whole thing will resolve once he has finished. I don't think that you need to buy any type of spray. It was probably one of those products that are supposed to help reptiles shed. If you still think that he has an injury on his mouth you can also apply a small amount antibiotic ointment like Polysporin or Neosporin.

Cricket bites are usually only a problem if alot of crickets are left in the bearded's tank without access to any type of food or water. Starving crickets will sometimes resort to nibbling on the toes, tail and other parts of the sleeping reptile. If you do leave crickets in the tank it is always a good idea to leave a bottle cap of food in there as well, something like crushed breakfast cereal is fine.