Crooked beardie tail

Hi, I’m a first time beardie owner and I have to say, beardies are simply the best animal companions to live with! And this site is fantastic to be a part of! There’s so much more information in here than in any book I have come across. I guess it’s because most of the stuff in here is up to date ? thank you

Now, on to my question ?

My little beardling is adopted ( don’t tell her ? ) and where she came from, was not a happy place.
There were many things wrong with the way she was treated and I’m so thankful that I could adopt her.

But to make a long story short; one of the things that bothered me about her previous living conditions was that she was living with a couple of dogs, one low energy, one high energy. The problem wasn’t that she was living with dogs. The problem was that she couldn’t come out because the high energy dog would try to play rough with her.

I was told that one time when my beardling was out of her home to roam, the high energy dog had jumped on her tail, which of course had greatly shocked my little lizzy which had made her blow up her beard, become flat and hiss at the attacker. And she’s not a common hisser.
But I was never told her tail had suffered physical trauma.

I found that out a little later when I noticed a small black dot on the tip of her tail and the crooked way her tail lightly bent in some places. I figured that perhaps there was some constraint on her muscles, possibly pain, so I started searching for videoes on how to massage a beardie, because as you know, they aren’t really the easiest animal companion to massage ? I found some okay videoes, but most of what I ended up doing, is customized for her build.

It was clear from the beginning that she wasn’t that fond of me touching her tail, but through love, you can create lots.
So now she doesn’t even look when I touch her tail, which means I can massage it.

So I’m sitting there one day, massaging her tail and suddenly, pop. No, the tail didn’t fall off but apparently she has joint structures like I do. Easy to pop.

But but but, I tend to worry, so I immediately stopped, I even gasped because of the “shock” of hearing and feeling the pop.

Do you know how she looked at me? Like I was an i.... not so smart thinker. She didn’t even care that I was having a slight heart attack. She liked the massage though.

I guess my question is, if it seems like it relieves pain, if it seems like it doesn’t bother her, even the black dot on her tail is disappearing, should I continue doing this massaging routine? Even though her joints pop?

Thank you in advance.

Crossing my fingers I’m not doing anything irresponsible ?

Btw, English is not my native language, so, sorry for grammar mistakes ?

I probably would not touch her tail because it may be healed already and moving it could cause injury. If her tail is just crooked, it shouldn't cause her a problem. Can you post photos of her and her tail? You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and then post them by pressing the XIMG button when you reply.

Thank you so much for replying!


I’m saving up for a trip to the vet so I can get her checked out, but other than the tail, she seems happy.
She is a good eater, she is active, curious, and she is very colorful ? and her tail is curly almost all the time, even when she’s in her enclosure.

Overall she seems healthy, I just worry about her still

That's not a bad kink at all. That shouldn't cause problems for her and it doesn't look like it's infected. It's a good sign that she is eating well and is active. It probably is not bothering her anymore.

You could get an xray done to see how the bones are. It's possible it's from not enough uvb or calcium if the bones are not strong enough. What happens is the tail could of got microfractures and then re-fuse together while healing. Usually the wavy tail itself won't hurt them unless the cause is in the bones then you need to be wary of the rest of them. He could of went through a phase where there was not enough uvb/calcium and that time has passed or it could get worse if there are still issues with uvb/calcium. Two of my beardies have wavy tails, one worse than the other. The culprit was a weak reflector. They seem fine though, just no more beautiful straight tail

The other thing is it could of just injured the tail and again it re-fuse back together during healing.

Thank you both so much for replying ? I guess I worry a bit too much ? They are such strong little beardies them beardies ?

I hope the weather is good to you and your beardies wherever in the world you live ? have a great day/night/evening/you know what I mean ?