Beard lump

[LittleDragonMama]

I have a male who is about 3 years old, a rescue, who I've had for over a year. He has mild mbd and issues eating from improper care before, but I've finally got a good routine down with calcium and uvb/tank so he hasn't had any symptoms since last summer. However, I've recently noticed he has a small lump in the left side of his beard, right down at the bottom of the little pouchy bit. It's only visible at certain angles, and sometimes after he's eaten I can't even feel it, so I kept thinking he was stashing food. He's been eating and pooping just fine, and is getting more active as he senses Spring coming, just like last year. He stretches his beard daily with no indication of discomfort, and the lump is soft. Ever since I took him in, he's been very picky about food. He rarely eats greens on his own, and refuses any and all squash/veggies unless I make a slurry out of them, which has become his main food source aside from dubia roaches. I've worried he has teeth problems, since they're a bit stained and have some dark spots, but he happily crunches roaches and chews blueberries, so I don't know. His mouth looks healthy, and I'm fairly certain he doesn't have a parasite problem because he lost no weight/hydration while brumating on and off. The lump just doesn't seem to have any connection to his jaw, and his eating issues have never been consistent enough to indicate a health problem.

If it wasn't for the pandemic, I'd already have an appointment for him, but I rely on some tricky public transport situations, so I was hoping for some advice on when to act. Does this sound like a cyst? It hasn't gotten any bigger. I have a good vet fund saved up, I just don't want to have to take him out in chilly weather unless I have to. Vermont is still pretty cold.

 

[KarrieRee]

Please post pics of him and the lump your talking about
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ click on XIMG at the top of the post then click on the pic it should post
Karrie

 

[LittleDragonMama]

Please post pics of him and the lump your talking about
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ click on XIMG at the top of the post then click on the pic it should post
Karrie

It's been shifty, so getting a good pic has been a bit hard, but here's the little bulge it makes:

and here's me isolating it so you can roughly see the size, like a small blueberry, but not precisely round:

and here's his beard when the lump has completely vanished:

 

[KarrieRee]

Is he storing food
Karrie

 

[LittleDragonMama]

Is he storing food
Karrie

That's what I thought for the first few weeks, and it's still possible, but I don't know how I could confirm that…

 

[KarrieRee]

Well watch and see if he does it again and if it pops up again some one else on here would need to look but that is my guess
Karrie