Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ive noticed this small white/yellow spot on my dragons tail. i thik this must be jungle rot. ive been misting him less, changing his water more frequently, and doing my best to apply neosporin to his spot (though he kicks the swab on contact). will this get rid of the fungus/mold?

a short period after i apply the neosporin, the fungus seems to fall off and his skin in the area shows green again, how often should i apply this? do i need to get special vet medicine?

are there any sort of fungicidal/antibacterial solutions or stuff that i can put into his water that would help out? would changing the ph or salt in his water affect anything?

are there any special changes to his tank that i should make while he is recovering?

I am not familiar with the term "jungle rot", but I would suspect that it is a misnomer, since an infection like this is due to bad husbandry and would never happen in the "jungle." At any rate, your problem is poor ventalation and high moisture/humidity. While Waterdragons like humditity, they don't like constant wetness,or moisture. you mentioned his tank, unless you live somewhere were the humidity is extremely low, an aquarium is an improper cage. First they lack proper air flow, and even the largest are too small for waterdragons. Short of building a better cage, which would be the best thing to do, I would suggest hooking up a small computer fan to ventalate the tank.

i am in the process of building him a wooden and plexi glass tank, but for now he is in an aquarium. i do have a fan in the tank. its really dry here though and i guess i have been over zealous in my humidity efforts.

So this sort of infection is caused by poor genetics? do you mean he has a poor immune system?

Husbandtry refers to captive care not genetics. I am not suggesting that you have neglicted him, but that you may have been caring for him incorrectly, i.e. spraying him down to much, not suppling him with a large well ventalated cage. Out in the wild where the waterdragon can choose his own evironment, this type of illness does not occur. You best bet to rid him of this infection, is to keep the cage and the water dragon as dry as possible.

If "jungle rot" is a fungus/mold, treating it with neosporin won't do any good. It's like trying to cure ringworm on a human with neosporin. You're going to need an anti-fungal cream to treat it. taking it to a vet wouldn't hurt either.