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Bearded dragon eye bulging

Posted By:

krackerdactyl

In Relation To:

Amp

So we've seen this happen a few different times. many times with my older bearded dragon. and a few for our younger ones. i think its more of because we just dont catch them doing it.

anywhoooo....they bulge out their eyes.

and we're not entirely sure why. its a bit creepy. but interesting.

we've looked up around online and they say its done to stretch the skin around their eyes for shedding. or its their form of yawning. i dont know. lol

does anyone have any ideas??


Points:	100
Topics:	Eyes
Tags:	Behavior, Eyes, Pogona, Vitticeps
Species:	Lizards > Lizards > Pogona vitticeps
Administrative:	Show/Hide

Accepted Answer

12/31/2009 10:27:09 PM

WhiteHillReptile

I always heard this was their way of yawning. Similar to the way we yawn to equalize pressure in our eustachian tubes (runs from ear to throat) they do it to equalize pressure in their hardarian (sp?) duct which runs from the roof of their mouth to a sinus cavity behind their eye. It's the same reason that advanced cases of mouth rot can cause severe eye infections, the bacteria travel up the duct to the eye socket.

Author Comment

1/1/2010 6:59:44 AM

krackerdactyl

Hm....that was informative

Member Comment

1/1/2010 4:45:22 PM

iashia

no kidding. i didnt even know why we yawned. nice =)

Member Comment

1/1/2010 5:36:26 PM

WhiteHillReptile

yawning may be a bad example, its probably more likened to us popping our knuckles.

Author Comment

1/1/2010 7:22:15 PM

krackerdactyl

That seems a bit weirder...lol

Member Comment

1/1/2010 8:55:56 PM

WhiteHillReptile

the sound made when you pop your knuckles is a release of CO2 from inside the fluid that is between your joints, so when the CO2 is released it relieves the pressure and makes your joints feel better. if there is a buildup of pressure in the hardarian duct or the sinus cavity the lizard can distend his eye to release the pressure and give some relief. back when i was raising a lot of beardies (4-600 a year) out of my colony i had very few that i never noticed "bulging eyes" but some i noticed it quite often. this is probably similar to people who crack their knuckles often versus people who don't. this is all theory of course, because i really doubt there have been any in-depth studies of this, or none that i have heard of anyway. i dont exactly know how you would test it anyway for that matter. FWIW Tre'

Assisted Answer

1/1/2010 10:06:08 PM

Darkdazeys

I noticed that mine did that too, so I too looked it up on the internet and found out that they do it because they're loosening the skin around their eyes in preparation for a shed. But I didn't know all of that that Tre' said. Nice.

Member Comment

1/2/2010 8:32:14 AM

WhiteHillReptile

its all theory really. depending on what site you go to you will get different explanations as to why. these are just my thoughts on it.

Author Comment

1/2/2010 9:59:27 PM

krackerdactyl

Yeah. Checked out a few different sites n whatever when I googled it. And was wondering if anyone had like a definate answer. Rather than possibilities. But yeah. Seems weird how would u test any of it.

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