Bearded Dragon-family friend

Question
QUESTION: Tracy- I have 2 year old beardies. One is perfect and the other is not.some history and specfics.I have two BD's in a 125 gallon tank with crushed walnut shell bedding, the temp is about 88-90 degrees total(the whole room remains at 80 degrees cuzi have snakes to) we have a basking lights and a UVB light for day and night infared heat light, I feed them crickets and mealworms which they both love, I hand feed them fresh water two times per day, I provide fresh romaine lettuce and carrots and apples daily however they never eat any of the fresh food which is why I hand water them. Abouttwo weeks ago one of the BD's "Tink" stoped eatting and drinking and started to act very lathargic. Then one day i woke up and she was really yellow andalong the top back sides she was very red and blistery. I have since  taken her to the vet whom said he had never seen her illness before. He did says she has severe jondas (sp?) and so i brought her home and nursed her back to health the best I could, Its been a week now and she is doing muchmuch better however she still has some red bloodish discharge coming from her ears and she still has a red back. she is eatting and drinking but not eatting her fruit or vegis. I have messaged her belly and she did elimiate now she has eliminated 2 times in the last week in a half, she is not hard in the belly at all and her belly looks perfect in color etc. its just her back and ears. what could have caused this in one and not the other and should I take her to another vet about the blisters on her back and the ear drainage. we love her and want her better, any ideas?

ANSWER: Hello Michelle,

Oh my that sounds terrible!
Would you happen to have a picture of that?  It could have been Yellow fungus disease, which that kind of matches the criteria but not fully.
What type & brand of UVB do you use?  A fluorescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light?  Could she have burned herself somehow?
Is there any evidence of a spider bite possibly?  
I need to see pictures, it would help a lot.
So your other dragon does not have this issue?
Do you have a male & female or are they both females?

The crushed walnut shell s not the best substrate as it can cause impactions & loose substrates harbor bacteria.  For now, I would take the crushed walnut shell out & use non adhesive shelf liner, or paper towels to help keep it cleaner in there and cut down on bacteria right now.
Try using some darker green leafy greens such as mustard greens, collard greens, dandelion greens  if you use romaine, mix it in with the darker greens for more nutrition.  
Do you have any antibiotic ointment on hand?  Begin using that daily, to help with the skin condition for now, until I figure out what is going on.

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


BACK OF BEARDED DRAGO   QUESTION: Tracie. I can only upload one photo but i took a lot for you to see- i tried to get as close to one section of this blistery back. Let me know if you would like to see others. So she could not have gotten burnt however she very well could have been bitten by a spider. Although her whole body has this blistery red look to it so i can see if there is a bite mark. her ears are still draining fluid. I took a picture of that too. I also took a picture of my other Bearded Dragon- he is perfect in weight and color. she is eatting her meal worms and she is allowing me to drip water in her mouth(i do this 3 times daily to ensure she is getting plenty of water) I can go out and get her good greens like suggested above but she doesnt eat them- neither does the other one. any suggestions to getting them to eat their greens? I will change out their bedding today and i need to go buy some ointment- what kind would i buythank you so much for your help./ You are awesome. BTW- i have no idea what lights and sex they are? how can i tell? i was told they are both females. I have split them up for now- so they are both in 125 gallon tanks seperately.

ANSWER: Hello Michelle,

Wow, that does look painful.  
That is good you have split them up for now.  
I do need to know what type of UVB light you are using, if possible.  A long tube bulb or a compact/coil light?
If she was not burned then, it has to be some type of allergic reaction of some sort.  The other dragon does not have that, correct?
Could she have come into contact with any toxin?
The best ointment if you can find it would be the silver cream, & some drug stores do carry it.  Otherwise, try to find neosporin or polysporin to put on those area.  
If they will not eat their greens, try putting a few little worms or small pieces of fruit mixed up in with the greens to add color & flavor.  
This is terrible.  I am sorry that this has happened, but, we will figure out what is going on.  At least she is responsive & is eating & taking in fluids right now.
Have they ever tried to mate?

Let me know how she is doing.
Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Tracie - so I have two tanks - both with two lights. One is a a long tube light in a black long hood that I was not able to undo before I left for work this morning but I can take it apart tonight to tell you what it is. The other light is a small lightbulb looking item in a dome hood. I did look at this and it says "EXO Terra" SunGLO 75W. I also have this on the other tank. I did go buy the vegis you stated - Kale, Collard and Mustard greens. Ill keep at it.
Ok so - OMG!!! I think she might be having an allergic reaction - let me tell you why. I normally feed her crickets or mealworms and about 5 days before this all happened I went to PetSmart and bought superworms becuase they were out of meal worms. The superworms are huge and black and they bit me before I fed them to the lizards. Tink only ate one. The next day she did not eat anything - and then after 3 more days i knew something was wrong. She became really lathargic and wouldnt eat, drink or move. On the 5th or 6th day she started to turn really yellow and then her back looked a little red. when I got home that evening that is when her whole back looks like what the picture looks like. Could she have been allergic to the superworm?
Spike(the other bearded dragon) has eatten maybe 4 or 5 at different settings. I can tell he/she doesnt care for them either. but he is still looking perfect and eatting fine.
I dont think Spike attacked Tink but he/she could have?? I would say though since the red blistery back and the drainage from Tinks ear happened in "stages" its not any one area and it is even across all of her skin.

What do you think? could she be allergic to the superworm??
Do I have the right lights?
I do know how to check the sex of them so Ill do it tonight and if I cant figure it out Ill let you know. I think they are both females because I have never actually looked but I have never seen those pores on they belly tail end before either... so ill know for sure tonight but I think they are both girls.

Should I take her back to the vet for any kind of medicines for the allergic reaction or should I take her to the vet and say that it can be an allergic reaction? is their anything that a vet can do or do you think that me feeding her - helping get plently of water and keeping her in a seperate tank along with the ointment should be sufficent enough?

You are amazing. thanks for continuing to help me get to the bottom of this!

Answer
Hello Michelle,

Hm, I have never heard of an allergic reaction to superworms.  Though did you leave the worms in the tank with them?  It is possible that the worm could have bitten her, they do have pinchers & can bite.  
Or, there was just something wrong with the worms to begin with.  However, I have never heard of them causing the skin problem.  That is why I was asking if maybe it bit her?
What else is in the tank that could have caused injury?  Do you leave crickets in the tank at all?
The SunGlo is a basking light, but it does not provide any UVB unfortunately.  That one is fine for the basking.  Just let me know the brand on the tube bulb when you can.

Is there anything else that you can think of that she came into contact with that the other one didn't?
If you have not noticed any enlarged femoral bumps/pores then you probably have 2 females.  The males develop them at around 1.5 to 2 years of age, & they continue to enlarge during the 2nd year.
Females just do not have those types of pores there, at all.
I am sorry that Tink is having so much trouble!  Continue with the ointment.  Does it look like it is spreading at all?  
If it doesn't clear up I would say a vet visit would be a good idea.  Otherwise, you will be looking at scale damage & other infection setting in.  Have you been able to determine if there is possibly any type of bite marks anywhere?

I will help as much as I can for you!  We will get it figured out.  

Tracie