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This is another x-ray of a bearded dragon we have that was injured. Anyone that knows about BD's we are looking for an answer about the bones in the beard area, look at the x-ray, on the right side you can see the bone, it arches from under the eye sockets out to the tip of the beard, but one the other side it lays along side the skull and archs out differently.

Does anyone know if they can collospe these independently? the Vets are not sure if this is a broken/damaged bone or something they can do naturally.

If anyone needs a larger picture to see, email me

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www.reptilerooms.com

>>This is another x-ray of a bearded dragon we have that was injured. Anyone that knows about BD's we are looking for an answer about the bones in the beard area, look at the x-ray, on the right side you can see the bone, it arches from under the eye sockets out to the tip of the beard, but one the other side it lays along side the skull and archs out differently.
>>
>>Does anyone know if they can collospe these independently? the Vets are not sure if this is a broken/damaged bone or something they can do naturally.
>>
>>If anyone needs a larger picture to see, email me
>>
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>>www.reptilerooms.com

That's the hyoid bone, and I'm pretty certain they should always be symetrical. I'm basing that reply on what I know about comparative anatamy and is just an educated opinion.
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Bill DiFabio
Garden State Herpetoculture...website to follow...
Email Me
"The poetry that comes from the squaring off between,
And the circling is worth it.
Finding beauty in the dissonance." - Maynard James Keenan

IMO only.....if it's jointed bone, which I suspect for beard flexion....it could be laying differently than the other in the x-ray.....if it's not a jointed bone, then as Aztec said it should be at least fairly symetrical
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com

It doesn't look right to me, then again, I know nothing about the bone structure of a bearded dragon. The best way to be sure is bring in a healthy bearded dragon and have the vet x-ray it, this way he has a baseline to compare to.

Have they done a standing lateral on it? My wife is a vet-tech in the diagnistic imaging department (radiology) here at purdue. If you can send a VD and Lat I should be able to talk one of the radiologist here at purdue into looking at it for me.

As for the anatomy - the bone that moves the beard is the analog of the hyoid and it is not jointed (least not in the same sense that a knee is).
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Russ