Bearded Dragon Starved Himself?

So I just went on a marching band trip for 9 days. My grandparents took care of my baby. Every day I would ask how he was doing, eating, sleeping, basking. Everything was normal until about 4 days before I got back. They said he stopped eating. This continued for the next 4 days until I got back. I got home that night and he ran to me right away and I tried feeding him but he wouldn’t eat. I was thinking that maybe he just needed to have a day with me before going back to eating. Well I went to sleep and then the next morning I woke up and my beautiful baby was dead :’(
Everything was normal with him. He wasn’t sick, his temps were all right, before this he ate a prefect diet of greens and insects. I’ve heard before that beardies get attached to their owners and they get sad when their gone for a long time so is it possible he starved himself because he missed me?
One last question is would it be cruel for me to get another beardie in about a month or so? I love Zoku so much and I’ll never forgot him but I love bearded dragons and i know I’m going to want another one. Thanks!

Hello,

Oh gosh, how heart breaking this story is. I am so sorry you lost him like that.
It is a remote possibility he didn't eat enough. They can really miss their owners when they
are gone. Usually they don't purposely starve themselves to death. That was sweet he came
running to you when you got back from your trip.
The only way to determine the cause of death would be to have an autopsy done to try & get
some type of closure. There could have been something wrong with him before all of this, but
it is so hard to know for sure.
You can never replace the one you lose. Just take your time because grieving is a natural process
so when you are ready it's ok to bring another one home.

Tracie

…. likely missed you and probably already sick when you left , the stress of your absence was enough to push him over the edge.

Similar experience with my Toothless when he was about 1 year old I had a month long stay in hospital for an infection. He was pretty big so managed this fasting with no weight lost and boy was he clingy and glad to see me when I discharged myself from hospital and came home.
He was missing his human daddy …. yes they do bond very strongly with their prime human carer and do miss this person when they suddenly aren't around for an extended time.

Before you replace your little friend , sterilise all his stuff with F10 and replace all the porous furnishings …. JIC he was sick and it's contagious ,

Thank you guys! I would have an autopsy done, but I’m really broke and I already buried him in our yard. But yes I’ll definitely sanitize everything that was in there. I don’t think I’ll be getting another one for at least a month though.

I am so sorry for your loss!!

I doubt that your beardie starved himself to death in that amount of time. In the wild, they go without food when food is scarce, and their bodies have adapted to that. Their metabolism simply slows down, until the food source comes back. More likely, he was not well for some time, and it finally got too much for him. They can hide an illness. They do become strongly attached to their owners, and will stop eating. My Dezi quit eating when I was too sick to take care of him, and my husband had to do the feeding, even though Dezi knows my husband, and is comfortable with him. We had to bring Dezi to my bed so I could feed him! That may be something to consider before getting another dragon...where will you be, during the next ten years? Will you be able to take one with you, where ever you go? It is just something to think about, since Beardies do not adjust well to other people as their care takers...