My Beardie Died :( can you tell me what possibly went wrong?

Sj45 · Jul 9, 2009

you guys will probably tell me I am a terrible owner and should never own a beardie again and that's how I feel right now but I want to know why he died.

Here's the recent facts.

#1 I had not given him water or a bath in 1 week. (worries me, I totaly forgot)
#2 He had missed a meal the night before (protein) but had gotten a few greens.

He he had always pooped normaly, had poop by him where he laid dead.
I cleaned it out on schedule.
He was not on any type of lose substrate.
He was 8 weeks of age.

If you have any more questions, uvb light etc. send me the list, I will answer them.

Thanks, Scott

sunkist · Jul 9, 2009

I'm not going to shake fingers at you because I did the same thing. I didn't know about baths and their drinking habits with my first little guy. He ended up dying also. I took the knowledge of the baths that I learned on here and applied it to my new guy and bathed him daily. He prospered.

I can't say that's why your guy died but I fully feel that is why my guy died. He looked extremely dehydrated - this I learned after the fact.

zebraflavencs · Jul 9, 2009

No one is going to castigate you for making mistakes. You are here to learn from those and improve any conditions for future dragon Masters.

Now, so much is possible with a dragon that young. It could have been sick before you even got it, dragons hide illness quite well, until it is usually too late.

So, with this in mind, please do list all the equipment, lighting, what kind, what brand, and how close could the baby get to it all.

Also, what size feeders were you offering ,and what kind.
What veggies if any were offered.

How long was he in your care ? A week ? more ?

What were the temps under the basking light, cool side, hot side ? How did you measure those ?

Thanks, and let's figure this out, so you can be a happy dragon slave again !
Janie.

Sj45 · Jul 9, 2009

I had her for almost exactly 1 month. She was under a reptisun 10.0 (brand new) and a zoo med uva basking lamp. The temperature under the basking light was 108F and the other side was a lil cool at about 75-80F.

The crickets were about 3/8"-1/2". few veggies were offered, as he never really prefered/wanted them, but I did offer him some kale last night, he ate a bit this morning before I found him.

spurlee01 · Jul 9, 2009

I'm so sorry you lost your friend. A couple more questions- Was the reptisun 10.0 a long tube? How often were you feeding your beardie? About how many crix did he/she eat each day?
Sara

Sj45 · Jul 9, 2009

spurlee01":55842 said:
I'm so sorry you lost your friend. A couple more questions- Was the reptisun 10.0 a long tube? How often were you feeding your beardie? About how many crix did he/she eat each day?
Sara

It was a florescent long tube, he/she was eating about 10-15 crickets/day, she seemed to have a healthy appetite.

spurlee01 · Jul 9, 2009

I really don't see any thing wrong with your setup. It is very possible that the baby had some underlying problem as Janie suggested (this is even more likely if you got your beardie from a pet store). I don't really think that a week without baths would kill a baby, but I could be wrong. If you decide to get a new beardie, you might want to somehow record how much your beardie eats, what supplements you give, when you give baths, etc. I just have a running word document with the formentioned plus weight, length, vet visits and results, and when she sheds. I may be a little OCD, but it does work for me so I know for sure when to give a bath and what supplement to use. I saw Janie suggest to another poster that a pet-only calendar might work well. That way you can also mark when they are do for things like a check-up, fecal exam, or new UVB light. Google has free online calendars if you're interested. Just some thoughts-
Sara

Sj45 · Jul 9, 2009

spurlee01":6475d said:
I really don't see any thing wrong with your setup. It is very possible that the baby had some underlying problem as Janie suggested (this is even more likely if you got your beardie from a pet store). I don't really think that a week without baths would kill a baby, but I could be wrong. If you decide to get a new beardie, you might want to somehow record how much your beardie eats, what supplements you give, when you give baths, etc. I just have a running word document with the formentioned plus weight, length, vet visits and results, and when she sheds. I may be a little OCD, but it does work for me so I know for sure when to give a bath and what supplement to use. I saw Janie suggest to another poster that a pet-only calendar might work well. That way you can also mark when they are do for things like a check-up, fecal exam, or new UVB light. Google has free online calendars if you're interested. Just some thoughts-
Sara

I supplemented him with calcium everyday and multivitamin like once/week. Do you offer your bearded dragons water though? I didn't and he probably went a week without a bath...I'm worried that he de-hydrated because that's the only thing I can think of, how long do you think a beardie could go without any water, just crickets?

protiemama · Jul 9, 2009

So very sorry your little one died.

He may have been dehydrated from lack of baths. Also he should have been eating 50-100 crix a day. The 1/2" ones may have been a bit large. Hard to say without seeing your dragon. Crix should be no bigger than the space between their eyes.

That said, if he was only 8 weeks old and you had had him a month, then he was prob too young/small to be sold. :shock: He prob should have stayed with the breeder a couple more weeks to sturdy up. Moving like that can be sooo stressful on a baby.

So don't beat yourself up. Learn, read, :study: and when your heart is ready, try again. :love10: Dragons are wonderful loving pets. They are worth all the stress they can cause. Good luck.

Sandy H

Sj45 · Jul 9, 2009

protiemama":1ffae said:
So very sorry your little one died.
He may have been dehydrated from lack of baths. Also he should have been eating 50-100 crix a day. The 1/2" ones may have been a bit large. Hard to say without seeing your dragon. Crix should be no bigger than the space between their eyes.

That said, if he was only 8 weeks old and you had had him a month, then he was prob too young/small to be sold. :shock: He prob should have stayed with the breeder a couple more weeks to sturdy up. Moving like that can be sooo stressful on a baby.

So don't beat yourself up. Learn, read, :study: and when your heart is ready, try again. :love10: Dragons are wonderful loving pets. They are worth all the stress they can cause. Good luck.

Sandy H

There's no way he could have eaten 50-100 crickets a day...that would equate to $5-10 a day and $150-300 a month if I bought them from my pet store.

zebraflavencs · Jul 10, 2009

That, my friend, is why most of us online bulk order crickets, or start a roach farm

I would be tickled pink to help you find a reputable supplier near you, and/or help you to establish a good colony of roaches.

Any way we can help out, we are quite willing. I can see from your posts, you were quite attached to your baby, and never meant for things to go awry. So, let me know what you decide, and we can go from there! Also when you are ready, I can honestly recommend several breeders here of healthy happy beardie babies !
Janie.

protiemama · Jul 10, 2009

Mail order crix varry in price depending on where you live. My last order was 1500 3/8" crix and 150 Phoenix worms and shipping-$32!

I keep the crix in a 10 gal with a screen top on my porch. It works great.

Yes, I happen to know a great small breeder with a clutch about to hatch. I got my babies from Janice(Tatty) but I think all her babies have found homes. I could check, if you like. Or if you need to wait, Barb's won't be ready until prob close to Oct. There are other great breeders around. Just ask when you are ready. There is no rush.
We are always here for you. In fact I think some folks on BD.org don't sleep at all! :shock: :lol: Take care.

Sandy H

zebraflavencs · Jul 10, 2009

We don' need no stinkin' sleep ! LOL
It does seem that way somedays, doesn't it !
Today I was up around 5 am and once I cleared my email, here I was ,and still am at almost noon !
Janie.

BeardieBaby69 · Jul 10, 2009

I dont think your baby was dehydrated. I only give mine a bath twice a week. However romain lettuce is about 95% water and she gets that daily along with kale, mustard greens, carrots and squash. Everyday. she also eats about 50 phoenix worms a day! My baby has ALWAYS loved her greens and eats them all every day too.So she is well hydrated.
I agree that there was something irreversably wrong with it when you got it. My tip is ALWAYS buy from a breeder.

Sorry for your loss.

Sj45 · Jul 10, 2009

How long could a beardie go without water?

I'd rather buy from a reptile show though, I got her for $60 vs. about 100+

My Beardie Died :( can you tell me what possibly went wrong?

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