Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I am taking care of a friends dragon while she is in the process of moving. Things have been really rough on her and she's neglected the grooming of her dragon for a while so Zeus had a spa day today. I clipped his nails and gave him a bath. While I was bathing him I noticed that his preanal and femoral pores are very badly clogged to the point they are malformed and distended. Besides soaking in warm water and gently working at the clog with my fingers can anyone suggest a way to unclog his pores? I am going to have him for a week or two so I have no problems giving him a warm bath every night until this issue is fixed but i can't imagine its very comfortable for him so I would like to resolve the issue quickly. My dragon gets regular baths and loves them so I have never had this issue before.

Thanks for the help,
Heather
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Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first and the lesson after.

Hs Kritter Kove

Those pores secrete a waxy substance in males. Then they drag their legs to mark their territory with it. I have some that the buildup extends past the skin and they look like little teeth. I think what you are describing is normal. If you disagree then I'd recommend you post a picture for comparison.

Ok, tried to take a pic but he's not used to being handled and wiggled to much so nothing turned out. I know about the waxy secretions but this isn't the normal wax color, it is coal black and there is sand stuck in as well. (I guess I should have mentioned that before, sorry.)

The person she lived with was a very heavy smoker, so much so that Zeus was having problems shedding due to the layer of nicotine that coated him. I got that mostly removed last night and will work on it a little each day till its all gone.

Any ideas of something I can use to help clean out the pores or is warm water and rubbing with a wash cloth and working with my fingers the best bet?

Thank you,
Heather
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Some days I want to be a missing person.

Square One Beads

I quit smoking so my rescues wouldn't have to deal with 2nd hand smoke. Before that I used to go outside. lol. Just think what his lungs are like if there is nicotine on his skin.

The dragon pictured is a yellow dragon that is completely white on the bottom. You can see the pores and secretions on him are grey. The pores on a male are never empty.

Otherwise without seeing them it's hard to give an opinion. My thought is that if you were to scrub out all of the secretion then the pores would be open to infection. I think regular baths will get rid of the sand over time. I use sand also and haven't had that problem.

Thank you, I really appreciate the photo. Seeing yours I guess the pores on this guy aren't as distended as I thought. I have a female Lawson's beardie so I was using the picture in 'The Bearded Dragon Manual' to judge what the pores on a male inland beardie should look like and Zeus's pores are much bigger than those in the books picture so I was concerned. However, he looks like yours with the exception of the black color and the sand so I guess he's not as bad as I feared. I will just give him a small bit of extra cleaning there when I bathe him this week. I still have more nicotine to scrub off of him.

I'm trying not to think about his lungs. I am hoping they will clean up like human lungs do when you stop smoking. However, my friend has had him for at least 7 years and he was a full grown adult of unknown age when she got him so there's no telling how long he'll live anyway.

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it

I need to get a video camera. My puppy is totally facinated by Zeus and Zeus couldn't really give a [bleep] about him which is driving my puppy crazy. It is very funny to watch.

Heather
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Some days I want to be a missing person.

Square One Beads

a simple trick to take a picture of the underside of an animal, is to put him into a clear bottomed container...even a small glass tank that has a clear bottom will work. Then just take a picture of the dragon from underneath the container. To avoid flash glare obscuring the picture, either turn off the flash and use other light sources to ensure good lighting..or just take the picture at a slight angle, so the flash glare is not directed back to the camera.

Or you can just put a bit of tissue paper over the flash itself.
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PHLdyPayne