Recently noticed this on the hand of my beardie. It isn't solid, and has a little squish too it (I squeezed gently!)
She is approximately 1 year old. Eats very well. Dubias mainly, crickets etc. Spring greens, squash, blueberries.
10.0 UVB bulb and 50 watt basking bulb. Basking spot stays at 105f and cool end of viv is 80-85f.
Only adopted her a couple of months ago but I hadn't noticed this until a few days ago so I believe it has come about since she has been in my care
Hi there, it may be gout. How many dubias does she eat and what do you feed the dubias ? Don't feed them any protein, dubias store high uric acid levels,[ esp. when fed a protein diet] which can be passed on to the beardies leading to gout.
She can eat up to 15-20 medium nymphs a day and a few crickets. I feed the dubias oranges, greens that I would feed my dragon and a small bowl of dry premade gut load food (though they rarely eat it)
I would suspect gout as well. This is often genetic but high protein diet can be difficult for them to process if this is the case. I would have a vet run a blood test and/or take a sample from the bump and look for uric acid crystals (or high uric acid levels in the blood) that would indicate gout. In the meantime try offering a little bit of dark cherry juice which should help a bit. There are prescriptions available as well if it is determined to be gout.
I've been reading a lot about this in the last few hours and it is very sad I hope my girl is not in too much pain. From her day to day life she seems a very happy little dragon, eager to explore and so calm and loving of attention.
If only to ease my own conscious, is it likely that this is a genetic issue or a direct result of my care over the last 2 months?
I'll definitely be getting some dark cherry juice, that will have to do until I can get a vet involved. Also, would it be a good idea to lessen the amount of animal protein she is eating and try to promote a more veggie diet?
Thank you both for your help
Any more suggestions or others with beardies that have this problem would be great to hear what you have to say
If she,s getting around alright then it likely does not hurt. One of the mods, here knows how to deal with it ,username is drache613. She can recommend or at least guide you through a treatment if your vet gives a positive on gout. It's not advanced and can possibly be treated with a good outcome.