Crooked Tail and Fingers?

My beardie's two years old, and I got him a year ago from a friend who got him six or so months prior from another guy, so I'm estimating that my dragon was six months old when my old friend decided Cricket's original owner wasn't caring for him properly. One of the first things I noticed after placing him under my care was that the last few inches of his tail were crooked in one place. It hasn't gotten any better or any worse in the year that I've had him, and I'm not too sure what caused it, but I do know that it doesn't bother him or hurt him, and it doesn't stop him from running all over the place or climbing or jumping on whatever he wants to. After a year, my curiosity has gotten the better of me and now I feel the need to ask other beardie parents for their take on his case.

Here's what his tail looks like when I straighten it out:



Here's what his tail looks like normally:



At the place where the tail turns to the left, I've noticed that it feels rather flat, and at first it made me wonder if he got stepped on when he was young or something like that. Another thing that's got me puzzled is that his stripes down the tail change a bit after the bend, and I'm not sure why that could be. I've read that a common diagnosis for a crooked tail is metabolic bone disorder, but I'm not convinced since his tail hasn't changed in the slightest in the year that I've had him.

Another thing that I saw when I first got him was that his two of his fingers were crooked as well, but they're usually only really noticeable when the muscle in those fingers was extended. Here's a picture from one of his hands, but it is the same with the same finger from the other hand as well. (I apologize for the poor picture quality.)



I can't tell if this is normal or not in bearded dragon fingers, so I want to ask. Aside from these two imperfections, he's fine. He's active and bright eyed, friendly and pretty chill most of the time. He doesn't get angry (though be bobs at us now and again when we annoy him) and he doesn't turn his beard black unless he's feeling unsure or stressed by something that's around him. About MBD, I've read that other limbs would be affected, but all his limbs are fine and he doesn't have tremors of any kind.

He also has plenty of warmth in his vivarium (temps can get to 105*F on the basking side (during the summers where I live hitting 100*F isn't a total shock which of course raises the temperature in my dragon's vivarium and we're starting to get there again now) and usually hang around 90*F on the other side where the UV bulb is) and he gets his share of UV rays.

If you have more questions you'd like to ask, feel free, and I look forward to any opinions!

My dragon's toes look like that as well..within the 8 years I've had him.
I wonder why his toes look like that, myself...

Hiya.

The Toe/Finger wouldn't worrry me... I had the same thought when i realized Izzy had 3 crooked fingers, one on each of his front feet and the longest on his back left foot. I came here for advice, as you have also.. And i was advised (by a vet also) that it was more than likely one of two things.

1) an injury from when he was a baby (which wouldnt have been noticeable till he reached a size big enough to see his digits)
2) a birth defect (for Izzy anyway) as it was the same digit on each front foot.

I was also told that unless you can see any blackening on the toe or that the nail was maybe dying, not to worry, as it meant the circulation was working and the toe was just crooked (humans have similar defects aswell after breaks and whatnot).

My lil guy has 3 maybe 4 "crooked" toes but still climbs and grips just fine. I think it adds character to him , I mean.. normal is boring right? I can post some pics of izzies toes for comparison if u like.. All i can say to assure u about the toes at least is. If he doesnt seem uncomfortable on them when walking/climbing or gripping onto things don't worry..

I am by no means an expert on BD's as Izzy is my first and i've only had him 16months.. But i did come here (initially) for everything when he was a juvie.. paranoid parent syndrome

Hope my ramblings have helped in some way lol

Tony

Thanks for coming, Tony! I'm glad to hear that his fingers aren't that big of a deal, but yeah, I'd love to see some pictures! His have never bothered him and he's got a pretty strong grip anyway, but it was more out of curiosity that I asked. With his tail, it's not something that scares me, but I'm just curious, as always. But of course, if it is something serious, better to know early, right?

And that bit about PPS, I can totally understand. I knew from the beginning that they were independent creatures, but it still caught me off guard how stubborn mine would be. He's a total goof when it comes to food. If it's moving, he'll down it no problem, but if it's not, it's a battle to get him to eat. But aside from all of that, he's an absolute dear. I don't have a problem with him in any other regard, and he's so good that he sits on my chest if I'm taking a nap, and if I'm laying on my front, he'll place himself between my shoulder blades along my spine and rest his chin on the back of my head and fall asleep. He's really a sweet thing.

Ive had an issue getting Izzy to eat salad since i got him also. I tend to feed salad to his Dubai's and hope he gets some of the nutrients via eating them instead, i mean ofc its not as good as him eating the salad itself, but hey it's better than nothing right? Izzy is a character too, he is an explorer when out of his viv, running around my room licking everything he sees. Though of late he's been rather lazy when in his Viv, some days he just eats, poops then lazes in his cool side or under his log. SOmetimes i worry that he just wakes up, eats, poops and wants to go right on back to bed. But if i drag him out from under his log, and put him on my bed, he will explore till i put him back, have you ever had this? or is yours generally basking/running around? I get worried when he's lazy...

I completely can relate to that and experience the same thing. Cricket's super lazy and spends most of his time either basking, hanging out on his log under the UV light, or inside the log. Last night he fell asleep in his basking area and when he woke up this morning he moved inside his log. I just got home from work and sure enough, he's still in there. This is something he does often, but he'll become active again if I take him out.

Okay, last night my brother and I were watching the extended version of The Fellowship of the Ring (because he'd never seen it before) from like 8pm to 11:30pm and I had Cricket with me who attempted to sleep through the whole movie while on my chest. I could tell he wasn't too excited about all the noise and stuff because when I irritate him or something happens that bothers him, he exhales. I know it sounds weird, but if I moved or it got loud, he'd exhale a little. Anyway, when it ended and we went back to my room where the lights were on, he seemed to wake up pretty quickly and he stayed awake with me until around 3am. I have this issue where when I'm ready to go to bed, my guitar will start calling my name, and last night when this happened, Cricket was totally chill about it and sat on my shoulder the whole time, clearly paying attention to where the sounds were coming from. The funny thing was that he would look down and around like he was getting ready to jump off me, but he stayed put. With the last song I played, he moved over to the other shoulder (closer to where his viv is) and I could tell he was ready to go to bed. I finished the last song and said, "Okay, it's time for bed," and as I did so he proceeded to walk down my left arm and sat on my pillow to wait for me to take him to his enclosure. These creatures amaze me. I feel so lucky to have him. :mrgreen:

Haha, that is cute.
Mine always looks at
his viv when he's ready to go to
bed.
Bearded dragons are just totally awesome.
Sometimes he stays up til midnight waiting for
his "dad" to come home to say "goodnight".