HELP beardie unresponsive for hours then wakes up

Please help me! I came home this afternoon after being gone since the day prior, and my dad told me that unfortunately Tyrone, my male five year old bearded dragon had passed away. I was devastated, and this did not make sense to me because he had seemed fine just two days prior. My dad told me that he found him in the sand, completely unresponsive with his eyes closed and did not appear to be breathing early that morning. He did everything to try and wake him, but he appeared to be completely dead, black under his chin and down the sides of his body. My dad took him from his terrarium and put him in a box with a blanket. He continued to check nearly every hour and prod him, and up until around 5pm, he still appeared dead and no sign of movement. When he opened the box later that evening, which thank god he did, Tyrone opened his eyes.

We immediately put him under his basking lamp to warm him up and then drove him to the vet hospital. He is currently being treated with antibiotics and given fluids and they are keeping a close eye on him overnight, but the vet did not have an explanation for what was happening.

Does anyone have any clue what could be happening to my beardie or has anyone seen or heard of a similar situation? Please any help would be very appreciated. I am worried sick.

I am so sorry Tyrone is sick. You must be completely devastated! I am glad you took him to a vet who can hopefully figure out the problem. To help, we need lots of info about his environment, nutrition, etc...and photos of his civarium are very helpful. there are some very knowlegeble beardie owners on this site, but no diagnosis over the web site can beat the hands on, experianced vet check. Please keep us up to date, and let us know how Tyrone is doing! people here may be able to help you with any questions you have about treatment /medicine your vet recommends. I hope he recovers quickly.

Hello,

Wow, what a terrible ordeal for everyone. Poor Tyrone, something is definitely going on
with him though. Be sure they don't overmedicate him though that can be just as bad as
no medications.
I would highly recommend requesting a blood test to try & determine what could be going
on. It could be a kidney or liver issue perhaps. Have you spoken to the vet today?
This has happened to a few here on the forum where they thought their dragon had passed
but they had not. A lot of times it is something very serious like an infection or kidney & or
liver problems.
I hope that he is able to come through this problem. Please keep us updated on Tyrone.

Tracie

Is there are chance someone forgot to turn the basking light on and he has been chilled so much his metabolism has become very slow ?

Can you show us the set up and tell as in as much detail as you can
> basking spot temperature ?
> warm zone temperature during the day ?
> cool zone temperature during the day ?
> how are you measuring these temperatures ?
> overnight tank temperature (is the room very cold at night ?)

Can you tell us exactly what you have in the way basking globe and UV source
> brand of UV source ?
> % UVB rating
> wattage ?
> type of UV source (ie compact / curly globe , T8 tube , T5HO tube , MVB) ?
> is it in reflector hood or reflector dome of some kind ?
> how far from the basking spot ?
> how long are the lights on each day ?
> age of the UV source ?

I note you mention you have him on sand. NOT GOOD.
What kind of sand ?
When was his last poo ?

Details of the dragon's diet and feeding schedule .
And of cause it's helpful to see pictures of the dragon and it's tank and furniture.

how is Tyrone, this morning?

Thank you all for responding.

I talked to the vet this morning and Tyrone is awake and alert, moving his head around, although they said he still seems very weak. They took a blood sample and sent it to the lab and we will have the results tomorrow so we can find out what's going on. The vet thinks it could be sepsis, which they would be able to treat, but it could also be liver or kidney failure and Tyrone's unresponsiveness was his body shutting down. He was also dehydrated. I am going to visit him shortly.

I have had him for five years and there is no chance the basking light wasn't on. Where we found him unconscious was actually in the shade under one of the terrarium pieces we built up for him to climb on, where he rarely ever goes, like he was trying to get away from the heat. The UV light bulb was just changed two months ago. The sand bedding has never been an issue and I have never seen him ingest it. He is fed crickets/worms by tweezers and he has had X-rays in the past. There is no sign of impaction and the vet does not believe it is that. He had a bath on Friday where he drank a lot of water and pooped shortly after.

Please keep Tyrone in your prayers. I hope he is strong enough to make it through this.

Hello,

Goodness, poor Tyrone! I'm glad they did a blood test. I hope you get it back quickly.
Could he have eaten something toxic possibly, a spider, wasp, or a firefly?
I hope they are giving him some fluids to help out. Is his beard normal color now? Keep
us posted on him, I hope he is feeling better soon.

Tracie