Beardie has claws under middle!? or what?

Hi All;

Haven't been on here in years, but today I discovered something new to me, so must post. Nice and warm now, and beardie (JL) has just begun a nice molt. For the first time ever, JL was sitting in the water dish today, never seen this to date. So I took her (pretty sure she's a her) out for a bit of exercise and fresh air. She enjoys this, and many times takes the opportunity to poop, which is nice for both of us. Far as we know, she is about 6 years old now. In general, when there is a lot of shedding going on and she starts rubbing on stuff I will help her out by giving her a warm water soak, and let the skin get wet, she seems to like it. So, did that after bringing her in. And now, the surprise.

We usually "help" a bit with the shedding, by gently going over the skin and if it's loose, assist it coming off, which a few pieces did from the back, and which the stomach area did not want to, so it's still there. While looking her over, noticed the cloaca area is nice and clean, and further forward, on a line that matches the rear legs, there appears to be an entire new set of spikes forming, cross ways in line with the legs, with about 4 of them looking like toenails! Honest, they are as long as her toenails. These are almost midship, on the bottom, just inboard of the thighs. Never saw those before, it's like new this year. And all across the bottom side of the legs I can see several sets of them beginning to break through the skin.

So, do Beardies get helper spikes on the bottom side of thier legs? I can see the advantage, with these she could climb up a tree and just park there, even on a rock, like Beardie Velcro.

I'm surprised, I thought I knew how Beardies look, now I'm wondering what else she is going to grow over time to keep us confused.

Regards, cjack

Perhaps you're looking at the femoral pores?
They usually appear as little bumps along the underside of the bearded dragons legs.

Can you post a picture of them?

I thought femoral pores as well, but only on a male would they develop waxy protrusions if too much builds up. Please do post pictures.

Lets see if this works. That part about "protrusions" suddenly makes me wonder, maybe my she is a he.

JL is in her / his cave,,,,, getting JL out is sort of like starting a war, so if you wouldn't mind waiting, I'll post a pic tomorrow. That assumes I can figure out how.

Is it anything like this ?

https://www.reddit.com/r/BeardedDragons/comments/81dx8d/help_please_heavily_clogged_femoral_pores/

To post pics here :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload

Don't want to dsturb your baby now of course.

Hi Responders;

Indeed, they do look like those in the link. Main difference is 2 of them seem really long, like his toenails. Actually his toenails are shorter.

I did upload 2 pics, now all I have to do is figure out what to do with them...

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/31297/full

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/31298/full

Ok, I think that provides a link to them,,,, fingers crossed.

So to recap - Thanks to the help here, pretty sure his issue is femoral pores gone wild. And, have now decided JL is a he. He's a really nice he, nowhere as ornery as my Sons.

He has had 2 recent baths, this morning he was again in his water bowl, so he apparently likes soaking them. Saw a video on youtube about same issue which she was treating. His do not appear to be inflamed or anything, just quite prominent, especially the 2 long ones, which are now sort of laying down' ish.

So what do think I should do next with him?

Thanks again for the inputs!

Definitely a boy. Just soak him daily in warm water + use a toothbrush to gently stroke those. Make sure he has rocks + rough branches in his tank to scrape against as well. That should do the trick.

Thank you "AHBD", that sounds like a plan! Will pop up progress report in a week or so with update.

cheers!

cjack

Update:

JL is starting to not enjoy bathes. His femoral pore area is nice and supple, and does not show any sign of infection, but the 4 pores with the waxy feeling protuberance do not appear to be getting smaller, or softer, basically no change.

The longest one, when you wiggle it, can be seen to wiggling inside the pore area, and it appears it's as long inside as it is outside. The urge to cut it off, or pull it out, is strong, but I'm not going to mess with it. If it was a dog or cat, next up would be a warm bath in Epsom salts, but I'm afraid to subject a reptile to that.

Ideas?

I'm thinking I should now post this in the "health" section, as we seem to have figured out what the deal is.

cheers
cjack