Why did my bearded dragon die?

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Hey everyone,

I bought a baby bearded dragon in December 2010 named Bud, I bought a brand new setup, new bulbs, sand, food, etc. He seemed fine right up to a few weeks ago. He didn't grown much at all, I fed him correctly, the temperature was correct, I sprayed him with water etc etc & I also have another bearded dragon, named Charlie which I bought at the exact same time & the he has grown so much compared to Bud, Charlie is very active, loves being handled, loves his food & is very friendly. However in the past 3-4 weeks, Bud wasn't eating much to the point where he wasn't eating at all. Tonight wasn't great, it upset me actually. He was on his log next to the light bulb & was almost falling off because he was that weak, my dad picked him up off of the log & placed him on the ground & he was very limp. He had a black spot on the top of his front left leg & within 10 minutes it had spread right round to his chin & the top of his head. He was very limp, didn't react to being handled, his eyes were bulging, he just seemed like he was suffering. When he thought he was dead, he opened his mouth very widely as if he was gasping for air, as if it was his final breaths, then went very limp again & closed his eyes, he did this every 8 minutes or so then just stopped completely. I just can't believe the amount of black on him. I'm 97% sure he is now dead, my dad picked him up & nothing, no reaction or anything, we sprayed him & nothing again, his eyes are closed, his mouth is very very slightly open & is really limp.

It's being horrible to see him like that for the past few days, he sat behind a log being inactive & just didn't react to food, it was just a gut instinct that he was going to die soon. Does anyone know what he died of? I've never heard of this before although I have heard that black marks either means stress or a mating signal, which I think mating was the very last thing on his mind. It just really upset me & I'm interested what it was.
 

KirstyCleary

Member
Original Poster
No, they were in different tanks in 2 different rooms.
Temperatures was around 110 as he was a baby.
UVB brand was extra terra, is that the correct name?
Diet consisted of small crickets, greens, wax worms as a 'treat'.
I didn't bathe him as the man who I bought him from in the shop advised not to until he had developed a little more.

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it.
 

TASTIGER

Extreme Poster
i am so sorry for your loss the exo terra bulb is known to cause lethargy and eye problems i cant be sure that this is the reason he passed its possible he got very sick because he didnt eat and was dehydrated..
 

KirstyCleary

Member
Original Poster
I didn't know that, if I was to buy another bearded dragon, I would probably buy one which has matured more & obviously stay away from the exo terra, which other brand would you suggest? As my other bearded dragon has an exo terra bulb so I'm thinking of changing that as soon as possible, although he is very healthy & active so I don't want to upset him.
 

TASTIGER

Extreme Poster
reptisun 10.0 is the best bulb on the market right now. you have to buy it online though i get mine at reptilesupply.com
 

KirstyCleary

Member
Original Poster
I will order a few of those then. Just very unfortunate that he died, I thought he could have been dehydrated & with not eating he would have had no energy. But, I will definitely keep in mind about the bulbs for my other dragon to keep him happy & healthy.
 

jeritta

Sub-Adult Member
Hi I am sorry your baby died. That is sad when it happens. As said before Reptisun 10.0 is the best bulb to get make sure you get the TUBE and not the coil type. Also I recommend you get the sand out of the other dragons tank as sand is often known to cause impaction especially in young dragons. Hopefully with these couple of changes that have been mentioned above and here your other dragon will continue to grow and be happy and healthy.

Can you post pix?
Pix of your dragon and you set up can also help us to help you too.
Again I am sorry for your loss.
 

lauraj1055

Gray-bearded Member
I think it could have been the sand.. He could have been impacted.. I would remove any sand right away.
 

KirstyCleary

Member
Original Poster
I will make these changes as soon as possible, my other dragon is much much bigger than the one that just passed away, he developed so much quicker & although he hasn't seem to have had a problem with the sand, I will take it out. What would you suggest as a subsitute?

Hopefully this link has worked, the picture is of him a few days after I got him, I'm being realistic when I say right up to him dying today, he hasn't changed shape, size or anything although we did feed him correctly. My boyfriend suggested it could have been something he was born with, but then there's a never ending list of what it could have been.

I don't have a picture of the set up right now, but I will be able to get one up tomorrow some time.

Pictures of Bud... http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p24/mrs-ratgirl-jones/?action=view&current=156942_1521742771092_1460276470_31024457_6529201_n.jpg
http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p24/mrs-ratgirl-jones/?action=view&current=164780_1520406217679_1460276470_31021043_4581355_n.jpg
 

TASTIGER

Extreme Poster
did you get him from petco or petsmart? it could be he was already sick when you bought him im so sorry babies are extreamly fragil it deffinantly isnt your fault
 

KirstyCleary

Member
Original Poster
I got him from a specialist reptile shop in my local area, I'm from the UK by the way if that's any help :D & that's the only thing I could think of, but if you look closely in the picture where he's sat on the log, you can see there is a black spot at the top of his leg. I don't know if you can see it from the picture, I can see it, but this black spot was there when I first got him & it went away, then it came back, then it went away again then when it came back again, he died. I could only think he had some kind of disease if he was born with it, I can't help but blame myself sometimes when I don't know what he died of.
 
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