# Bearded Dragon Beard has black tips



## NikkiKixx13 (May 28, 2019)

Recently, I’ve noticed that the tip of some of the spikes on my beardie’s beard have turned black. It’s been like this for about a week now and it happened after he began to shed. Is this a sign of infection/fungus, burns or just stress marks? Any advice?











Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

NikkiKixx13 said:


> Recently, I’ve noticed that the tip of some of the spikes on my beardie’s beard have turned black. It’s been like this for about a week now and it happened after he began to shed. Is this a sign of infection/fungus, burns or just stress marks? Any advice?
> 
> imageimageimage
> 
> ...


Need more details- set up (size & type of housing, heat & method, lighting, substrate, decor), age of the dragon, how long you've had him, etc.


----------



## Azastral (Jun 6, 2015)

Looks like its had retained shed on the end of some of its spikes and the tissue has died off.


Its worth having a vet check it over. Its also worth checking over your care routines, viv setup and food/water provision.


----------



## NikkiKixx13 (May 28, 2019)

wilkinss77 said:


> Need more details- set up (size & type of housing, heat & method, lighting, substrate, decor), age of the dragon, how long you've had him, etc.




He has a 4ft viv, with an arcadia d3 uv light and a 75w intense basking spot bulb. For substrate I put a layer of newspaper underneath a layer of kitchen towel (which i change as soon as it is soiled). 

He is a year and a half old and l’ve had him for a little over a year now. He eats well (veg, fruit, dubias, morio worms etc.) and his poo seems fine. I give him baths at least once a week and mist him every other morning. 
I don’t keep a water bowl inside his viv since that raises the humidity. 

He sheds in patches and sometimes a scale or two would retain its shed for a little longer but there is no relatively big patch of shed that gets stuck. He literally started losing the shed on his beard five days ago (not completely as there are some spikes yet to shed). But when he lost the majority of the shed on his beard, that’s when the black tips appeared and one spike looks broken off. 

I’m a bit worried, as I doubt it could be fixed and ever be the same again, and I started applying tamodine on the area because I don’t know what to do. I didn’t expect that retained shed would cause damaged in just a few days, I thought damage occurred when shed was retained for a few weeks and over :/ 


I don’t have a vet anywhere close by that can look over bearded dragons (I think the closest is a 2 hour drive and I don’t know how much it’ll cost, plus I can’t really drive so I’ll have to carry him through public transport). So any advice on what to do is welcomed and much appreciated. 

Thanks. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Azastral (Jun 6, 2015)

Why are you using an intense bulb?
It can cause burns and wont be giving the width that the basking area needs for it to properly bask.


Its also not just a few days, it happens when some of the spikey bits dont come off at all and then the tissue underneath starts suffering.
It would appear a little darker over time, and can be hard to notice, and only when it comes completely off is it you then see it properly.


----------



## NikkiKixx13 (May 28, 2019)

Azastral said:


> Why are you using an intense bulb?
> It can cause burns and wont be giving the width that the basking area needs for it to properly bask.
> 
> 
> ...




I’m using an tight beam intense basking bulb, which as far as I’m aware, can be used for bearded dragons. If you have any suggestions on what I should be using then please say, cause I don’t want to be burning him. 

As for the shed on his beard, it hasn’t been appearing darker over time. Before he started shedding his beard was fine (I know cause I inspect his beard, toes, and tail tip every time I wash him, plus I’m a bit of a weirdo and like to gently stroke his beard) it was only after his recent shed came off that the tips of some of the spikes have turned black. 




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Azastral (Jun 6, 2015)

...How often are you washing him?


----------



## NikkiKixx13 (May 28, 2019)

Azastral said:


> ...How often are you washing him?




At least once a week, but mostly every 3 days or so 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Azastral (Jun 6, 2015)

Thats a very possible cause of what you are seeing.
These animals are from mostly arid environments, they avoid rainfall and find shelter in the wild.


You shouldnt be getting it wet on such a regular basis, in doing so its looking like its soaked the skin and its too wet/damp on a regular basis and youve seen tissue damage where the tips appear to have died off.
Bathing should only be when actually needed, its an old and false husbandry myth that it helps with hydration. Either on a vets advice (perhaps to aid with constipation or impaction) or when its actually dirty, like its sat in its poop or something.


----------



## Azastral (Jun 6, 2015)

I appreciate that may be confusing, theres a lot of info out htere about bathing them once a week etc, but look at the dates when thats all posted.
Its all old husbandry, and poor practice, they used to bath them on the idea it helped keep them hydrated, and even thought there was water uptake through the vent, its all false.
It often takes several attempts to train a beardie to get used to being in water, and this causes additional stress thats got no real benefit, and they would naturally avoid sitting in bodies of water (centrals anyway, some others sometimes do it in shallow water to thermoregulate on really hot days etc, like a rankins sometimes might).

They hide from the rain, and search warm dry environments, their skin is meant to be dry thats how theyve evolved.
Occational misting of the viv to emulate early mornings where theres higher moisture content in the air, and a far end with a humidity around 40 to 50% in any shaded/hiding areas, the rest of the viv is then much lower with the basking setup and ventilation to try and get some airflow.


----------



## NikkiKixx13 (May 28, 2019)

Alright, thanks for the help. It is really hard to know exactly how to take care of bearded dragons since not a lot of research is done and like you said there are many myths on the internet and it’s hard to know what to believe. I really appreciate the advice. Do you think I should get something to help the spikes heal or should I just try not to worsen them by bathing him often? 

As for the basking bulb, do you mind telling me what kind of bulb is best? The previous owners of my beardie only used a heater for the basking spot rather than a bulb or lamp. 

Thanks x 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Azastral (Jun 6, 2015)

I would ease off on the bathing, maybe gets some tamodine to apply to the damaged spikes/scales.
Its possible with a few sheds they may regain some of their shape, if you think its spreading at any point you need to go to the vet asap.


----------



## Azastral (Jun 6, 2015)

For basking bulbs, I started off using halogen bulbs, ive used those for years, but switched to deep heat projectors a year or so back.
Mine had had light emitting basking bulbs their whole lives so it confused them a bit, but once they figured it out ive found them to be a lot better.

It will depend on the dimensions of your viv as to what wattage and if you are using an intense/spot bulb i would start by switching if for a halogen which have a wider beam.
The issue with spot bulbs is it focuses the light to a point, so you get a small intense area of heat, so if you can end up with a really hot focal point when you want a wide beam that covers as much of their body as possible.
Because they will then bask for longer, that can mean theyve got an intense spot of heat focused on one bit of them, which can lead to burns. In a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft viv i was using a 75w halogen basking bulb if i remember,


----------



## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Once the issue with the beard spikes is sorted, put him on a proper loose substrate- an adult beardie shouldn't be on paper, he'll need to dig. They come from deserts & steppes in the wild, with sand & soil substrates that they dig burrows in.


----------



## NikkiKixx13 (May 28, 2019)

wilkinss77 said:


> Once the issue with the beard spikes is sorted, put him on a proper loose substrate- an adult beardie shouldn't be on paper, he'll need to dig. They come from deserts & steppes in the wild, with sand & soil substrates that they dig burrows in.




Thanks for the advice but I don’t like the idea of using a loose substrate, I honestly feel it does more harm than good, especially since my beardie tends to lick the environment he’s in and I do not want to be dealing with impaction. 

Beardie’s may like to dig burrows to hide but my beardie also liked taking baths, so much so that every time I took him out to have free roam of the house, he’ll go straight for the bathroom and try get in the bath, and that’s probably what caused the issue with the spikes. Although sand does have some benefits, I feel it is more beneficial for them in the wild as they can dig burrows to hide from pray and the sun if it’s too hot. 

I may try shredding the paper instead to see if that works since I know during brumation he would go in his hide and cover the entrances with the paper, so it might be easier to dig with, but, again, my beardie might accidentally ingest it when he’s licking the environment and it may also make it harder for him to move around, so I might just carry on using the newspaper and kitchen towels. 

Thanks for your suggestion, but I just don’t feel comfortable enough to use a loose substrate. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

NikkiKixx13 said:


> Thanks for the advice but I don’t like the idea of using a loose substrate, I honestly feel it does more harm than good, especially since my beardie tends to lick the environment he’s in and I do not want to be dealing with impaction.
> 
> Beardie’s may like to dig burrows to hide but my beardie also liked taking baths, so much so that every time I took him out to have free roam of the house, he’ll go straight for the bathroom and try get in the bath, and that’s probably what caused the issue with the spikes. Although sand does have some benefits, I feel it is more beneficial for them in the wild as they can dig burrows to hide from pray and the sun if it’s too hot.
> 
> ...


Please read this: : Loose substrates & the myth of gut compaction. It really isn't true about loose substrates cuasing impaction if your husbandry is correct.
It doesn't cause impaction in the wild, & beardies really do _need _to be able to dig.


----------



## Azastral (Jun 6, 2015)

NikkiKixx13 said:


> Thanks for the advice but I don’t like the idea of using a loose substrate, I honestly feel it does more harm than good, especially since my beardie tends to lick the environment he’s in and I do not want to be dealing with impaction.
> 
> Beardie’s may like to dig burrows to hide but my beardie also liked taking baths, so much so that every time I took him out to have free roam of the house, he’ll go straight for the bathroom and try get in the bath, and that’s probably what caused the issue with the spikes. Although sand does have some benefits, I feel it is more beneficial for them in the wild as they can dig burrows to hide from pray and the sun if it’s too hot.
> 
> ...



Beardies can be taught/trained into certain behaviours, and once you get them past their natural aversion to being in water/partly submurged they learn its safe and some do indeed enjoy paddling about. Theres a reason why bearded dragons are thought of as the "dogs of the lizard world". 

Its not what theyre physically evolved to deal with though. Its good its allowed to get out and run about though, the more exercise you can get them to do the better.


----------

