Help!! Dead??

[Katielizzy]

I rescued my beardie a while ago and I woke up this morning to him not moving at all and his eyes are sunken in and he is cold to touch. Is he dead? Or is there a possibility he could still be alive. I have attached a photo from 4 days ago and one from today.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Some more information is needed - is he reactive? Is he basking?
Remember they are cold blooded, so unless basking or given a source of heat, they will always be cold.

You can try running a warm bath in your sink and placing him in it, keeping it shallow, and keeping his head above water. He should react to being placed in the water.

You can also try moving him onto his back. If he is alive and well, he should attempt to right himself, or give some reaction.

Honestly though, sunken eyes, depending on the severity, could indicate he has passed away..
I do hope he is still alive and possibly just dehydrated, but without more information I cannot give a clear response

 

[EllenD]

Oh I'm so sorry, you need to make absolutely sure by putting him on his back and in a warm bath, but he does very much look like he passed away, his eyes sunken like that looks very bad...I'm so, so sorry...Do be sure, very sure, as sometimes they do fake it very well, but he really doesn't look like he's living...If you're really not sure you need to take him to an emergency vet to have them check for vital signs before you bury him....

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Ok there are photos now.

Honestly, if that is the difference in 4 days, it's not looking good Dehydration would not impact his appearance that fast. He looks like he is in good health in the first photo, so there may have been some underlying issue internally

 

[Katielizzy]

Some more information is needed - is he reactive? Is he basking?
Remember they are cold blooded, so unless basking or given a source of heat, they will always be cold.

You can try running a warm bath in your sink and placing him in it, keeping it shallow, and keeping his head above water. He should react to being placed in the water.

You can also try moving him onto his back. If he is alive and well, he should attempt to right himself, or give some reaction.

Honestly though, sunken eyes, depending on the severity, could indicate he has passed away..
I do hope he is still alive and possibly just dehydrated, but without more information I cannot give a clear response

He is not moving at all he was fine he was basking eating he pooped 2 days ago . I have moved him touch his feet put him in water and no reaction

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

That is very upsetting I am very sorry for your loss, and with little to no obvious reason of what happened. I think it's safe to say he has passed away based on the photos alone..

Do you know how old he was?
We may be unable to help give any closure as to what happened to him, but if you really need answers, you can have an autopsy performed on him from a vet, preferably one that specializes in reptiles. My vet at the time was able to give me closure when my girl passed away, and she did it for me at no cost. It was very kind of her.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, I'm so sorry but it appears that he's dead. They can die suddenly, it happens at times.

You can set him outside on the ground + flip him over , that will tell you for sure.

Not to sound insensitive, but never put a dead animal in your sink....the amount of bacteria + possible diseases it carries [ salmonella, ecoli, parasites] should exclude the sink from ever being used to put a beardie in,[ even alive ] but especially if it's dead.

But I'm so sorry, this must be a shock to you. All my condolences to your family.

 

[Katielizzy]

Oh I'm so sorry, you need to make absolutely sure by putting him on his back and in a warm bath, but he does very much look like he passed away, his eyes sunken like that looks very bad...I'm so, so sorry...Do be sure, very sure, as sometimes they do fake it very well, but he really doesn't look like he's living...If you're really not sure you need to take him to an emergency vet to have them check for vital signs before you bury him....

Tried a bath and putting him on his back no movement although his stomach was black

 

[EllenD]

I'm very sorry, it does sound like he has passed away. They can't breathe when on their backs, so they typically struggle when you flip them over. And the warm water would at least brighten his color up if he was alive. If he stayed black in the warm water then he's passed away. I agree that it's pretty apparent he died just from the photo of his eyes, but you always want to be 100% sure. I'm so sorry, that must be quite a shock when it happens so suddenly. I will say that in the photo from 4 days ago he looked very healthy, a good weight, good color, no signs of bone density issues or anything else.

I wish we could give you some explanation as to why he passed away, but there's just no way to know unless you take him to an experienced reptile vet to have a necropsy done. They don't usually cost much, and if nothing else you'd know why he died. My guess would be that he had some underlying health problem that hadn't shown any outward signs yet, like a cancer or liver disease, kidney disease, etc. Either way, I'm very, very sorry.

Not to be cold to you at all, but I just wanted to make sure that before you put any other reptile inside his enclosure or you use any of the stuff from inside his tank like rocks, branches, basking spots, hammocks, bowls, thermometers, anything at all that was inside his enclosure or even stuck to the outside or the lid, that you completely disinfect it all with either F10SC or bleach and hot water, let it all soak in it, scrub it all inside and out, and then rinse it all very well and dry it well. Just want to be careful in case it was some kind of parasite, bacteria, fungi, virus, etc. You just never know.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

OH dear, I am sorry to hear your dragon passed away so suddenly. He went from the
top picture to the last picture, in 4 days? He could have ingested something toxic perhaps, I
am not sure. The only sure way to determine the cause of death is to have an autopsy perforned
on him. I know that isn't a very pleasant thought.
My sincere condolences to you.

Tracie

 

[Katielizzy]

I'm very sorry, it does sound like he has passed away. They can't breathe when on their backs, so they typically struggle when you flip them over. And the warm water would at least brighten his color up if he was alive. If he stayed black in the warm water then he's passed away. I agree that it's pretty apparent he died just from the photo of his eyes, but you always want to be 100% sure. I'm so sorry, that must be quite a shock when it happens so suddenly. I will say that in the photo from 4 days ago he looked very healthy, a good weight, good color, no signs of bone density issues or anything else.

I wish we could give you some explanation as to why he passed away, but there's just no way to know unless you take him to an experienced reptile vet to have a necropsy done. They don't usually cost much, and if nothing else you'd know why he died. My guess would be that he had some underlying health problem that hadn't shown any outward signs yet, like a cancer or liver disease, kidney disease, etc. Either way, I'm very, very sorry.

Not to be cold to you at all, but I just wanted to make sure that before you put any other reptile inside his enclosure or you use any of the stuff from inside his tank like rocks, branches, basking spots, hammocks, bowls, thermometers, anything at all that was inside his enclosure or even stuck to the outside or the lid, that you completely disinfect it all with either F10SC or bleach and hot water, let it all soak in it, scrub it all inside and out, and then rinse it all very well and dry it well. Just want to be careful in case it was some kind of parasite, bacteria, fungi, virus, etc. You just never know.

He wasn't black at all when he had passed but we tried everything and he was definitely gone. Thank you for all your help. I won't be getting one for another good while and I will do that thank you.

 

[Katielizzy]

Hello,

OH dear, I am sorry to hear your dragon passed away so suddenly. He went from the
top picture to the last picture, in 4 days? He could have ingested something toxic perhaps, I
am not sure. The only sure way to determine the cause of death is to have an autopsy perforned
on him. I know that isn't a very pleasant thought.
My sincere condolences to you.

Tracie

Thank you and the only thing I could think of is something we may have missed. He had already had a vet check up he was eating pooping everything as normal had a vet appointment already booked for tomorrow for another check up and he sadly had passed before that just keep thinking maybe if the vet appointment was sooner or maybe if I got up at night and checked on him.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

It is very hard when they pass so suddenly like that.
Just take your time, there is absolutely no rush at all in getting another one. They are just
impossible to replace.

Tracie