Something Off About Beardie Rib

[LupercaX]

Hello you beautiful Beardie keepers.

I have FINALLY (maybe) found what is wrong with my Male, Poseidon. I have had him since around last summer, and ever since we have had him, he’s breathed way differently than my Ither Beardies. Sometimes he has very sharp breathes, and does a pumping motion with his beard.

The other day, we heard what sounded like a dog gagging and about to vomit. Turns out it was Poseidon, he straightened up towards his light and did it for a few seconds then settled back down.

Today, I was petting his back, and I felt an abnormality on one of his sides. It feels like one of his ribs in his right side has “collapsed?” On his left side, all of his ribs are aligned with each other. However, in the other side, the right side, one rib is not aligned.

Does anyone have any idea what it is? And what I can do to make it better?

 

[LupercaX]

I did my best to highlight it. But if you look st it in comparison to the other side, there’s a little divet.

His behavior is relatively normal. He bobs at our females and will chase them sometimes and get close to mating. He eats, and sleeps normally. It’s just his breathing that’s been off for quite awhile. Initially we thought it was a respiratory infection! However, I’d like to know what this divet is and fix it so he can get back to normal!

 

[EllenD]

There's no way to know without an x-ray being done. There may be an abnormality or an injury, or it may just be the way it's supposed to be, they are all different, just like people. Some people have uneven spaces between ribs, some have "depressions" or "divots" in their sternums, etc., and they aren't a problem, it's just how their bodies are. Honestly, I doubt very much that a broken/dislocated/injured rib (assuming it's something he wasn't born with) would cause him to breath oddly, as the only way a rib injury or abnormality could cause a breathing issues is if it punctured a lung or something of the like, which would result in much more than what you're describing.

Unfortunately the only way to answer this question is to take him to a Reptile vet and have a chest x-ray and cultures done to rule out injury/abnormality and/or an Upper Respiratory Infection. I don't know how long he's been doing the "breathing" thing, but they all do seem to do some weird breathing motions and weird movements with their beards.

My best advice to you is that if you've been worried about this for a long time and you think something is wrong, that you make an appointment with an experienced Reptile Vet and make sure that there isn't a problem.