Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought 5 baby beardies from a breeder out of the state. When they arrived some had small red spots on them, one in particular had more small red spots on the body than the others. I contacted the breeder and she said she has no idea about the spots and that the only thing she could think of is if they came across mites through shipping. I can't find anything about this online. They look like tiny blood spots. There are no mites in the tanks, all are healthy otherwise and eating like pigs. This doesn't seem to bother the beardies at all, but it concerns me. Each of them has shedded ans still has the spots. Does anyone have any idea what these spots may be or what caused them? I'm going to try calling a vet to see if they have any idea. Any suggestions would help. Thanks

5.0.1 Bearded Dragons
3.2.5 Leopard Geckos
0.0.1 Three-toed Box Turtle (11 years old)-Roxy
0.1.0 Eastern Box Turtle (1 1/2 years)-Boogie
6 leopard gecko eggs in the incubator

if they are mites, soaking the bearded dragons in luke warm water for 5-10 minutes will drown any mites on the dragon. if you do this and see the blood red dots floating in the water or lying at the bottom, then you do have mites. if the marks do not come off, hard to say what they are. could be natural pigmentation of the dragon. also, some breeders paint dots on their babies to be able to tell them apart but these should only be one or two dots near the base of the tail and will come off after a shed or two.

pictures will make it easier to tell what these spots could be.
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PHLdyPayne

years ago i was volunteering at a vet and at that time i had a ball python that had mites. I told the vet i was working with that i've tried all the 'over the counter' mite medicines and have had no luck. She told me to rub the snake down with olive oil, and to do the same with the cage. After two days, I bathed the snake and cleaned the oil from the cage. It worked awesome.

BEFORE YOU DO THIS WITH A BEARDIE....make sure that this is okay to do and make sure that they in fact have mites. Does anyone know if this is okay to do with a beardie?

Also, what breeder did you buy them from? Chances are if those spots are mites then... NUMBER 1 the breeder IS aware that he/she has mite problems and is lieing to you... NUMBER 2 it would be good to mention the name so that other people can avoid the same problems... This person needs to clean up their business if they are selling. Personally, if i find a breeder or a pet store that has similar problems to this, that means that they don't properly take care of animals and the SPCA should be notified.
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a free range dragon is a happy dragon

olive oil won't harm bearded dragons though it is an effective kill for the mites currently on the dragon and it's cage. however, it won't kill mite eggs which will hatch over time and reinfect your bearded dragon. it is better to make sure you do have mites before using any treatment, medical or otherwise. if not mites but something else, oil may be more harmful than good.

mites could easily come from anywhere, not necessarily from the breeder. even if it was from the breeder, it is against the tos to post breeder names with the intent to give negative feedback on the forums. it is also very possible the breeder didn't know he had mites at the time of the sale, they could have come from a recently acquired animal not properly quarenteed, or it could very well have come from the shipping business used. also, if the animal was bought from a reptile show, mites could easily be picked up during the show. several of the snakes i bought from shows ended up getting mites on them, though no visiable mites were on the animals after i brought them home.

the best thing to do is soak the bearded dragon. water will drown the mites and you will see them in the water. products like prevent a mite and reptile relief are safe to use with bearded dragons, as long as the directions on the bottle are followed exactly. but again, good to be sure mites are the problem [or ticks] before treatment. the red dots may be natural pigmentation, especially if they are not moving and don't go away at all, even after soaks.
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PHLdyPayne

so we can slander products and companies but not irresponsible breeders?
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a free range dragon is a happy dragon

I'm not going to name the breeder because I am not like that and I know its not allowed. However i will tell you I ordered them off the internet through Kingsnake. I will have pictures of the beardies soon.

5.0.1 Bearded Dragons
3.2.5 Leopard Geckos
0.0.1 Three-toed Box Turtle (11 years old)-Roxy
0.1.0 Eastern Box Turtle (1 1/2 years)-Boogie
1.0.0 Reeve's turtle
0.0.1 Black lab
1.0.1 Cats
6 leopard gecko eggs in the incubator

If they are mites, clear the cage out and clean all the furniture and tank with bleach and water to kill all the eggs. use paper towels until the mites are gone. Make sure you rinse everything off after with water to get all the bleach residue off. If soaking your beardie doesnt work, try using Provent-a-mite, it has worked for me in the past for mites on my beardies, and on some new ball pythons I recieved that came in with them. All you have to do is wipe them down with Provent-a-mite on a paper towel a few times, and the mites will die and fall off.

Phil
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1.1.2 Bearded Dragons (Rocky,Hollywood,Zeeba,Flavor Flav)
1.1 Ball Python (Lafaunda, Napoleon)
0.0.1 Timor B.A Baracus(Mr.T)

They aren't mites. There aren't any seen in the cage or on the animals. These red spots, i guess i should call them marks, are like small breaks in the skin. I can't get a good picture with my phone cam(i can't find my digital cam right now). My fiance has tried to put that stuff in a bottle that heals open areas on the spots and didn't seem to do anything. The good thing is, is that these marks seem to be reducing a bit. Not so much of his body has these marks as it had before when he came to us. He's shed many times since we got him, and hopefully with some more sheds this will go away. On the smaller dragons they only have one or two of these marks each, and hopefully as they grow these will go away.

Are they about the size of a pinhead? If so they are mites, you would be able to see them crawling around in the cage like you might be able to see tick. They look like a small spot of blood wedged in between "scales" if that is what you want to call them.
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1.1.2 Bearded Dragons (Rocky,Hollywood,Zeeba,Flavor Flav)
1.1 Ball Python (Lafaunda, Napoleon)
0.0.1 Timor B.A Baracus(Mr.T)