Today I noticed my beardie’s feet are pink on the underside of each foot. I’ve never noticed this before. She’s been staying outside off and on all summer in a dog pen during the day when the weather is nice (brought inside late afternoon/early evening). She has a basking platform, shaded corner, hide and a mesh cover to keep her from escaping or birds trying to get her. She enjoys it. I’m not sure if this redness is from her trying to climb up the sides of her pen and are abrasive/bruise type marks or what. She did appear to poop recently and had some on her hind feet and I thought initially that was irritating her feet (which I’ve never seen happen with my other beardies after running through their poo). But then I realized her front feet weren’t dirty and were pinkish too. I plan to give her a bath tomorrow to soak and clean.
She hasn’t shed her feet/toes recently, so it’s not irritation from that, and it doesn’t look slightly white or orangish-pink like shed can look.
Should I be concerned about this? In the pic you can see her leg underside, which is her normal foot color. I put the foot over white paper to try and get a better look at the reddish color. Her hind feet are a little darker than her front feet - they’re pinker.
Here’s her tile. But I doubt it has anything to do with that, as she’s been on it for years and no problem. Also, she’s rarely on the tile this time of year because she’s outside and then put to bed when she comes in.
It looks pretty normal to me. I don't think it is a burn, but could she be pre-shed possibly?
How long have the hands looked like that?
The tile shouldn't cause any issues, it should be fine.
The day I posted is the first I noticed on it. So either that day or possibly the day before. I’ve just never seen pre-shed look like that, so it worried me. I’m keeping an eye on them, but they don’t appear any better or worse today. She doesn’t appear to be in pain, but it’s hard to tell with pets sometimes.
Yes, it is definitely hard to tell sometimes if they are ill, because they hide sickness very
well!
Keep an eye on the color & make sure it doesn't get any worse. Let us know how she is
doing.
She seems to be ok, still doesn’t seem to have any problems running around or using her feet. The coloration is still there. I’m going to just keep an eye on it. If I discover the cause/reason, I’ll let you all know - like if she sheds in the near future or something like that. Thank you all!
Very strange her feet are still a little off color but it doesn't seem to be causing her any
pain. There isn't anything that could be burning or irritating her feet?
No, she hasn’t been outside for last few days due to high heat and smoke outside, so she’s just been lounging in or under her hammock, taking it easy. So nothing that could re-aggravate her feet. It is odd. My only suspicion is the last time she was outside, if she was trying to climb up the sides of the metal bars of her pen or maybe the rough sides of her baking perch bothered her (it’s an inverted basket that she can climb up and bask on top or from the sides). But she hasn’t had any issues with her pen in the past and she’s been in it all summer. But since it’s not getting any worse or better that I can tell, maybe it’s a weird shed. I dropped her off at my pet sitter’s last night for the next couple days and asked him to look at them and see what he thinks, since he knows beardies and reptiles.
Glad to hear that she's not showing any signs of discomfort. That's because it's not anything at all and it won't be a problem, many beardies develop a tiny bit of off color, almost imperceptible, simply from oncoming shed or just the fact that their feet are in contact with all types of surfaces so they will get a tiny bit " dirty ". Just like if we walk around barefoot all the time, our feet will have a slightly different shade to them. So this is nothing at all to worry about. BTW, can you post a pic of her entire cage ? Some climbing structures can rub off a bit of color.