Black Beard

[queenbeardie]

My bearded dragon, Mia, just started having a faint light black beard, that doesn't fill her whole "chin", but only the bottom half. She's been eating well, she's well hydrated, she poops daily, she eats her greens, and is getting enough heat and uvb rays, so the only one thing that I am leading up to is

shedding problems?

does shredding pains or scratches on the body, cause "black beard"?

how about tail rot?

is it normal to have a dark beard?

the color differs from her original color, and the "black beard" is clearly visible even if it's faint

 

[BeardedDragon27]

My dragon constantly has black on his beard. How old is yours? It could just be coloration. Is it a constant color? Or is it changing?

 

[Rankins]

A black beard doesn't mean much if everything else is normal. A change in behavior and a black beard could be a sign of stress or illness.
It doesn't sound like much to be concerned about.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, does she still have a slight chance of having a respiratory infection ? I think you posted that in another forum. And are you SURE Mia is a female ? Most females only develop a dark beard if they are stressed , although it doesn't mean it's serious.

But if you want to be sure of Mia's gender, post a few pics here of her flat on a table with her tail arched high in the air [ like an alert dog ] Then take a few pics of her rear end . [ In lizard lingo it's the vent or cloaca ]

 

[kingofnobbys]

Yep Rex bungs on the back whiskers and goes grewish under the throat if :
** she's miffed about mommy or daddy nursing one of the younger beardies ( jealousy )
** she's getting urgent to do a poo and mommy or daddy aren't taking the hint (she gets a bit wrestless too)
** she's being cuddled by mommy and wants to have a cuddle from daddy instead (she's a daddy's girl)
** she get's picked up to go back into her tanks before she's ready to go back because she's having too much fun or enjoying the sun coming in through the window
** she's getting offered that yucky green stuff (and she used to love it until recently) and she'd rather have crickets or superworms or silkworms.
** too hot (slightly open gapped mouth) while being cuddled and wants to cool off
** if she's made a pig of herself on the worms and has a belly ache as a result (can sometimes be a bit of upchuck of the overflow ...)
** the little mini-human is having a weekend / holiday sleep over is being way too noisy and boisterous for Rex who prefers the unusual relatively calm and quiet environment when it's only mommy and daddy and the lizards and the people who live in the box (TV)
** when that scary little wild water skink has come inside and taken up residence behind/under the lounge and comes out and takes over Rex's fav spots near the window and near the front door, and she suddenly spots her when out on the floor for her fun time -it really spoils her fun time when this happens and it ignores her headnods and armwaves.
..................lots of others too .... beardies are indeed very complicated emotional beings.

 

[roddy]

How old is Mia? If she is reaching sexual maturity then this will happen, kind of the beardie equivalent of a grumpy teenager.

Grumpy, my female went through a phase of blackening her beard for about a month as she matured, but has not had a black beard since.

 

[queenbeardie]

How old is Mia? If she is reaching sexual maturity then this will happen, kind of the beardie equivalent of a grumpy teenager.

Grumpy, my female went through a phase of blackening her beard for about a month as she matured, but has not had a black beard since.

Mia is about 1 year old, and that makes more sense