Beard Question

[NeosMom]

I'm probably just being paranoid, but I figure that it never hurts to have other opinions on a subject. My question is about Fluffy. First of all... Her stats... She will be 4 years old in August. She is 20" long and at last weigh in was 451 grams. Her last fecal exam was clear and that was in August. She has a Reptisun 10.0 and her basking spot maintains in the high 90's. I use a probe attached to the spot which she has a tendency to lay on so I have to keep a constant eye on her temps, but average is 96-99.

She is a very picky eater and I have always had to fight with her about food. She wants 100% bug diet (don't they all) and will basically starve herself if she thinks there is the slightest possibility that she can get away with skipping her greens and get the bugs anyway. She is also funny about her basking needs (wants?). She will glue herself to the basking spot and not leave it for days. Then, when she gets sick of it, she will climb down to her lower shelf in the shade and sleep there - again, for DAYS. Not that she doesn't get up. She hops on and off the sofa. She sometimes lies under it. Sometimes she props up on her pillow. In the mornings she will climb out to the edge of that shelf so it's like she's sitting in the sunshine - only about 10" lower than the basking spot. It does no good to put her up on her basking spot. If she is in her "cool" mode, then she will climb back off it within a half hour. If I take her out, she loves her snuggle time and will climb around a bit if she thinks she can go sit in front of the storm door and look outside. Definitely not a lethargic dragon, but lazy for sure.

Now, to my question... She has enormous jowls. They've been big since she was young, but as she grows, so do they. We all think it's just the cutest thing ever. We always have. And my vet never saw it as any sort of a problem. Well, in the last year she has finally put on a little spurt of weight. When she became an adult, she bounced eternally between 360-400 grams. This year she has gained up to 450. Yay! And her cute jowls grew proportionately. Now, I notice that when she sits in certain positions there appears a black line across her beard just above her jowls. I will put a picture below. This only shows up in certain positions. When her head is down and resting, I don't see it. Not when she is stretching or thermo-regulating either. But it seems to be there when she is just sitting with her head up. I've noticed this in the last month or two. At first I didn't think anything of it because it's just a line and it is spring. (Also, since it coincided with Figment dying and her now thinking she is the biggest and baddest thing in the house.) Now I'm wondering if it could be a symptom of something. She has no other symptoms. She is the same girl I've had for years. Except for Figment dying and her jowls having grown to enormous proportions...

Any opinions on her picture would be nice. Maybe it's attitude? Maybe she can't control it cuz those jowls are so huge? But... maybe she's sick and I should do something?

 

[CooperDragon]

I admittedly don't know much about the subject but from what I've seen some of them just have larger beards and different body proportions than others. If she isn't acting abnormally and it doesn't seem to be bothering her, then I wouldn't worry much about it. The think I'd look out for is food getting trapped in the beard which could go bad and cause infection or other health problems but if that hasn't been happening up until now I wouldn't think it's all that likely going forward.

 

[NeosMom]

Thanks Cooper. You don't think the dark line means anything?

Mindi

 

[CooperDragon]

Not necessarily. It's pretty normal for them to have areas of darker pigmentation. It may just be coincidence that it's in a line like that. I don't see any signs of infection or scale problems in the area so I'd keep an eye on it but not worry about it much.

 

[NeosMom]

Thanks a bunch. It may be silly, but it's reassuring to hear someone say that.

Mindi