Help! Is my beardie brumating or dead?

[KimmieBear]

We've had our beardie for about a month. A friend of ours gave him to us. We came home today to find him limp and unresponsive laying in his tank away from his basking area . I tried giving him water. He was still warm to the touch. It doesn't look like he's breathing. He won't open his eyes. How do I know?! Could he be brumating?

 

[LewisBD]

How old is your beardie? Sorry to hear about that. Unless he had a past of dieases and such, I don't think that he's dead. What're the temps in your tank, and the temps where you live?

 

[Gormagon]

If you can turn him on his back and he doesn't move, he has most likely passed. It is extremely hard for me to respond to these types of threads as it reminds me of our little Naz, "RIP"!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am sorry to hear your dragon may have passed. This is never an easy thing to have to go through at all.
As suggested, you can try turning him on his back to see if you get a response, or placing him in a warm bath, with you holding him in your hand to see if you get any type of response.

Let us know if he is still with you.

Tracie

 

[KimmieBear]

I've turned him over a couple of times. Tried giving him water. I put him in a warmer room and left his light on. Absolutely no response. He is totally limp. :-( I will check on him in the morning. My girls are so sad.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am so sorry to hear that.
Could he have ingested something toxic like a spider, firefly, etc that you know of? It sounds
like it was very sudden?

Tracie

 

[KimmieBear]

Very sudden. There's always the chance one of the kids fed him something they shouldn't have. I even wonder if it was the "sand" (ground walnut shells) in his tank. Maybe he ingested some of it?

 

[KimmieBear]

Very sudden. There's always the chance one of the kids fed him something they shouldn't have. I even wonder if it was the "sand" (ground walnut shells) in his tank. Maybe he ingested some of it?

How old is your beardie? Sorry to hear about that. Unless he had a past of dieases and such, I don't think that he's dead. What're the temps in your tank, and the temps where you live?

We were told he was about 6 months old. Temp in his tank was around 80 degrees. Outside temp 70-80

 

[kingofnobbys]

Very sudden. There's always the chance one of the kids fed him something they shouldn't have. I even wonder if it was the "sand" (ground walnut shells) in his tank. Maybe he ingested some of it?

<<<< well, this will certainly cause impaction, and if untreated (BY A VET) lead to death (a long lingering and painful death).
<<<< since he died so suddenly it's likely he was already sick when you received him, only a necropsy by a reptile vet might determine the cause of death....no guarantees there.
<<<< I suspect this may be yet another young beardie coming from an unscrupulous bulk lizard breeder who has adult beardies who are AD positive , and hence have produced clutches of hatchling who all have atadenovirus and often drop dead very suddenly and unexpectedly, or because of seriously bad breeding practices where the offspring are weak due to intensive inbreeding (because it's cheap !!!)
https://www.thespruce.com/atadenovirus-adv-in-bearded-dragons-1238407
<<<< if you plan on replacing him, DO NOT BUY FROM THE SAME SELLER, I would return his corpse to the seller and demand a full refund (not a credit !!!).
<<<< if you plan on replacing him , I highly recommend very thorough sterilization of all his stuff and his viv using F10 see https://www.spunkyparrot.ca/cleaners/f10sc-disinfectant-200ml/
don't be put off by the price of a 200ml bottle of the concentrate - you use F10 diluted 1 part in 100 to 200 in water and so a small bottle of concentrate goes a very long way and it's worth the expense as it kills ALL GERMS.
<<< if plan on getting another beardie - NEVER USE SAND OR GRAVEL OR PARTICULATE BEDDINGS - these are all lethal to beardies.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Very sudden. There's always the chance one of the kids fed him something they shouldn't have. I even wonder if it was the "sand" (ground walnut shells) in his tank. Maybe he ingested some of it?

How old is your beardie? Sorry to hear about that. Unless he had a past of dieases and such, I don't think that he's dead. What're the temps in your tank, and the temps where you live?

We were told he was about 6 months old. Temp in his tank was around 80 degrees. Outside temp 70-80

Unless you got him from the breeder, you have no idea how old he actually was, most petshops give very poor care to their "stock" and they will tell you what they think you want to hear in order to make the sale (they will lie to you and they will not disclose any information about illnesses , siblings dying while in stock, and will tell you rubbish advice to sell their shop brand junk to you)
<<<< 80 degrees is OK for HIS COOL ZONE.
They need
<<< cool zone about 30oCelsius
<<< basking spot about 40oCelsius
<<< AT LEAST 10% UVB and 30% UVA from a proper reptile uvb globe or tube.
and a 6 month old requires TWO meals of high quality INSECT PROTEIN per day + high calcium greens.
THESE ARE NOT OPTIONAL.

I suspect you provided no UV and no basking globe - these will have reduced his immunity over time to non-existent . If you were never given proper guidance , this is not your fault , even those the information is dead easy to find online and in books.

I suggest before you get another beardied dragon, you refer to BEARDED DRAGON CARESHEETS , there is one attached to this board , and they are easy found on Google.
Make sure everything is set up correctly BEFORE and sterilized before you get a replacement beardie.

 

[KimmieBear]

Very sudden. There's always the chance one of the kids fed him something they shouldn't have. I even wonder if it was the "sand" (ground walnut shells) in his tank. Maybe he ingested some of it?

How old is your beardie? Sorry to hear about that. Unless he had a past of dieases and such, I don't think that he's dead. What're the temps in your tank, and the temps where you live?

We were told he was about 6 months old. Temp in his tank was around 80 degrees. Outside temp 70-80

Unless you got him from the breeder, you have no idea how old he actually was, most petshops give very poor care to their "stock" and they will tell you what they think you want to hear in order to make the sale (they will lie to you and they will not disclose any information about illnesses , siblings dying while in stock, and will tell you rubbish advice to sell their shop brand junk to you)
<<<< 80 degrees is OK for HIS COOL ZONE.
They need
<<< cool zone about 30oCelsius
<<< basking spot about 40oCelsius
<<< AT LEAST 10% UVB and 30% UVA from a proper reptile uvb globe or tube.
and a 6 month old requires TWO meals of high quality INSECT PROTEIN per day + high calcium greens.
THESE ARE NOT OPTIONAL.

I suspect you provided no UV and no basking globe - these will have reduced his immunity over time to non-existent . If you were never given proper guidance , this is not your fault , even those the information is dead easy to find online and in books.

I suggest before you get another beardied dragon, you refer to BEARDED DRAGON CARESHEETS , there is one attached to this board , and they are easy found on Google.
Make sure everything is set up correctly BEFORE and sterilized before you get a replacement beardie.

Actually, we do have a basking bulb in one corner, a uv light and a "moon" light. The 80 degrees was in the non-basking area. We fed him a combo of crickets, mealworms, Superworms, dubias, phoenix worms, and a variety of veggies that I looked up here to make sure they were safe.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Very sudden. There's always the chance one of the kids fed him something they shouldn't have. I even wonder if it was the "sand" (ground walnut shells) in his tank. Maybe he ingested some of it?

How old is your beardie? Sorry to hear about that. Unless he had a past of dieases and such, I don't think that he's dead. What're the temps in your tank, and the temps where you live?

We were told he was about 6 months old. Temp in his tank was around 80 degrees. Outside temp 70-80

Unless you got him from the breeder, you have no idea how old he actually was, most petshops give very poor care to their "stock" and they will tell you what they think you want to hear in order to make the sale (they will lie to you and they will not disclose any information about illnesses , siblings dying while in stock, and will tell you rubbish advice to sell their shop brand junk to you)
<<<< 80 degrees is OK for HIS COOL ZONE.
They need
<<< cool zone about 30oCelsius
<<< basking spot about 40oCelsius
<<< AT LEAST 10% UVB and 30% UVA from a proper reptile uvb globe or tube.
and a 6 month old requires TWO meals of high quality INSECT PROTEIN per day + high calcium greens.
THESE ARE NOT OPTIONAL.

I suspect you provided no UV and no basking globe - these will have reduced his immunity over time to non-existent . If you were never given proper guidance , this is not your fault , even those the information is dead easy to find online and in books.

I suggest before you get another beardied dragon, you refer to BEARDED DRAGON CARESHEETS , there is one attached to this board , and they are easy found on Google.
Make sure everything is set up correctly BEFORE and sterilized before you get a replacement beardie.

Actually, we do have a basking bulb in one corner, a uv light <<< more details
and a "moon" light.<<< not appropriate for a beardie
The 80 degrees was in the non-basking area. <<< what is the temperature at the basking spot and in the warm zone ?

We fed him a combo of crickets <<< good ,
mealworms, Superworms, <<< both bad for a beardie under 12 months old
dubias, <<< good
phoenix worms '<<< excellent
and a variety of veggies that I looked up here to make sure they were safe.