09/03/2023
FUNGAL DERMATITIS IN BEARDED DRAGON
The classical appearance of a N. guarroi infection is a crusty yellow lesion, and it is sometimes called βyellow fungus disease.β However,often a bearded dragon with this infection will have dark crusty lesions rather than yellow ones.
Bearded dragons with YFD often shows up as a small yellow to brown crust on the surface of a few scales that in time gets larger. Other crusts may appear elsewhere on the body in a random fashion and eventually turn dark and thickened or rough.
As the disease progresses, it may become an internal infection and lead to poor appetite, weight loss, and death. YFD is contagious and can spread from one dragon to another both by direct contact between animals and through the air. Young bearded dragons seem to more vulnerable to YFD than adults
YFD is associated with stress, often seen in dragons kept under crowded unsanitary conditions. Itβs often seen in those dragons which are raised in groups, shipped in groups, or displayed for sale in groups. It is also thought that injured toenails and minor bite wounds associated with dragons under crowded conditions results in damage to the skin which provides an opening for the fungus to infect the dragon.
