Bearded dragon mouth open, not gaping issue (pic)

[FriendoftheLizards]

This is Bitty, one of three beardies i own. A little history about her - I have had her for about 2 and a half years and she's roughly 3 years old. She has undergone preliminary deworming since being in my care. Her food is dusted with calcium 3x a week and with a multivitamin 1x a week. Crickets are offered at least 4x a week and collard, turnip, or mustard greens are available at all times. She lives in a 4 foot cage all to herself with a proper basking site and a repti-sun 10.0 UVB bulb which is replaced between every 6 months to 1 year. My concern with her is in the way she closes her mouth. The sides close, but the very tip is usually open very slightly. She is able to close it fully if she wants to, but she doesn't keep it fully sealed very often. I took this picture when she was sleeping, so it's definately not a heat related issue. She has been exhibiting this for about a year now. I'm not too worried about it as it doesn't seem to affect her at all - last year she even laid a full clutch of infertile eggs (she was not bred). There are no issues with her toes, nor her tail being kinked, so I doubt it could be MBD related, but by that same token, I'm not 100% sure as I have no experience with caring for lizards affected by the diesease. I was hoping someone with more bearded dragon experience than I have could weigh in - maybe someone has seen this before? I would like to breed her this year, as she weighs 470 grams and showed me last year that she is obviously ready to reproduce, but I have no interest in doing it if she's not in tip-top shape. I have no intent on doing anything that may be detrimental to her health. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Livey]

I don't think its anything to worry about, one of mine does it too as shes grown older..

 

[FriendoftheLizards]

Thank you Olivia, I appreciate your input. It makes me feel better that I'm not the only one whos seen this. Any time I do a search for it, all i come up with is either MBD or gaping, and it really doesn't match up with either one.

 

[VogueStar]

Well I just wanted to say. Ive also seen my beardie doing this. Ive notice he started since he has gotten older, and he usually does when he is really sleepy and lazy...lol. :wink: