My bearded dragon's tail is dark. Is it tail rot? What should I do?

Have Mulan examined by your herp veterinarian. Tail rot can be caused by trauma or infection. If it severe enough, amputation may be necessary to prevent systemic infection. Stress can also cause body parts to turn black. Commonly, it is the "beard"/throat that turns black during stress or anger.

Thanks for reaching out about Smaug and including photos. The end of the tail appears to be necrotic. A veterinary visit is recommended to assess and provide a diagnostic/treatment plan. The environment needs to be kept clean so substrate should be removed and replaced with paper towels or fabric to lessen the chance of contamination. Review diet and correct as proper nutrition is important to recovery and long life. Good luck.

Thanks for your question, and I’m so sorry that this is happening to you and Peaches. Tail rot can be a bit tricky to manage, and ultimately Peaches may need a tail amputation. Unfortunately, the tissue needs to stop dying before an amputation can be pursued, or else the tissue at the surgical site is at risk of dying as well. Due to this, for right now, you’ll need to monitor for spread of the tissue death. I recommend drawing a line at the area where the tissue seems to be shrunken, closer to the end of the tail, and another line around the area where the tail goes from a more normal orange to the white color. You can do this with a permanent marker. It may be advisable to consider a course of antibiotics as well, especially if the tissue death doesn’t seem to stop spreading. I hope this gives you a place to start, and that Peaches feels better soon.

Without an image or physical exam, it is difficult determine what is happening to Tye's tail. Serious rot (bacterial infection) or fungal infection should be addressed by your veterinarian or a vet experienced in treating reptiles. Clean and sanitize the cage and change out the bedding. Use paper towels or plain butcher paper to make cleaning easy. You can gently clean the affected area using a diluted Betadine or chlorhexidine (Hibiclens) solution but he may need systemic treatment to recover.

You can monitor him and clean it daily with diluted betadine or chlorhexidine. I wouldn't recommend the triple antibiotic ointment as it may cause the tail to get dirty quicker. Without a physical exam, it is difficult to determine the exact cause. Monitor for any progression, keep the tail clean, make sure he continues to eat and drink until he sees the doctor.

Bearded dragons can have a brown colored tail that is still healthy- tail rot will have a tail that shrivels, is hard and crunchy and has color change as well. It might help you to repost your message and include some pictures so that a vet can look at the tail and give you more information.

Thanks for your question about Yoda. From the photos that you included, the tail appears to be of a normal size. Often with tail rot, the affected part of the tail will shrink somewhat. I would recommend to feel the tail along its length to see if it all feels the same - it should feel like the skin is a bit elastic and the muscle should be a bit squishy. If the skin is hard and the muscle feels dry, then this would be concerning for tail rot and not just a normal shed coloration. I hope that helps to answer your question, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.