mangus might be dead.

[DRMiller21]

This morning he was awake and alert. i threw some crickets in his tank and took a shower. when i got out he was blue at the tip of his tail and in his throat, and his mouth was wide open. I took him to the vet and he seemed to be semi responsive, and the vet was in surgery. they told me to take him home and put him in warm water then under his basking lamp. Ever since i have done that he has been unresponsive and his tail is hard as a rock. I'm pretty sure he is dead, but i would like to know what might have caused the problem. In his cage he had just taken a poop (looked healthy) but i did see some other piles that were black but had a green substance that looked leafy around it. i cant take pics because i try to keep his tank really clean.

If he is dead i loved this little guy with all my heart and this is killing me right now. I have called 5 vets in the area and they all just refer me to a vet that is farther and farther away.


RIP Mangus

 

[Nemo]

Sorry,but she sounds dead...I hate it when pets die If her throat was blue maybe she choked

One of mine doesn't look to good...I'm taking her to the vet soon.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Dont count Her out yet.
I dont have any advise past the soaking. Reptiles can go into a dormant state when very ill. Even a vet wont pronouce death till 24 hours after they think the animal has past. Any chance your dragon ate a lightning bug? I know it sounds wierd but that can bring on sudden symptoms like this.

 

[DRMiller21]

no the only thing he has ate in the past few days is crickets, green leaf lettuce, and a few meal worms. How long should i soak him, he wont even work to keep his head above the water. I see no lung activity, but i really dont know how to tell if he is or not. He does feel more "fuller" then he did before, but his legs and arms are very stiff, his tail is less stiff, and his eyes are open (barely). Should i just keep him under the light for a while?

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Ok she isnt out yet in my opinion, but it does sound serious.
I would bath for about 20 min then remove Her. Im going to shoot one of the mods a message to check out this thread. In the meantime, please put all your info about your setup, lights, temps ect ect on here. The more details the better. Maybe as a group we can help out.

 

[DRMiller21]

I have a Reptisun 10.0 coil light, with a 125w ( i think) basking lamp right next to each other. Right now I have him on his hammock right under the lights. he does not respond to anything, his eyes seemed to be sunken in, but they are still open. I tried to open his mouth and it was pretty stiff as well.


he is about 10 in long, he has been very healthy and active everyday. This really is just breaking my heart, but he had a wonderfull home if this is his head. I just wish i knew what happened.

 

[diamc]

Oh gee, sounds serious. Sometimes they almost play dead and they can even stop breathing. You could turn him upside down for a few seconds and sometimes that arouses them but don't do it for long as it is hard for them to breathe like that. Also strong massages can also help sometimes. Let us know how it goes.

 

[DRMiller21]

Early on turning him upside down would get a rise out of him but now nothing. I have been massaging his underside and petting him pretty much the whole time. If he is playing dead he is doing a wonderfull job of it. The end of his tail is getting pretty dark, but his beard is looking better. I just rearranged his lights so he is more under the basking lamp, but i think it might be a lost cause.

 

[diamc]

TURN OFF THE COIL UVB IMMEDIATELY, THAT MAY BE PART OF YOUR PROBLEM. It sounds like he has passed but best to just leave him be. Since his eyes are half open and he is getting stiff and his eyes look sunken, those are not good signs at all.

 

[DRMiller21]

Ok i just did, what could it have been doing?

his legs and tail are less stiff now it is more is arms. I think you are probably right, ill give it till tonight. I dont want to seem superficial, but i just bought him a 55 gallon tank and decked it out. I dont know if getting another one is appropriate, i loved mangus, and dont want to just replace him but i have all this stuff.


Thanks to everyone who responded to the posts, checking the forum right now is what is keeping me going right now.

 

[Denise Bushnell (RIP)]

One way that you can definitely tell whether he's passed away, is to hold the length of his body in the palm of your hand, making sure the the front shoulders portion of his body is well supported by your hand. Cover his body, especially the shoulder and neck portion of it, with the palm of your other hand, and with him sandwiched gently between both your hands, quickly flip him upside down. If he is still alive, you will definitely get some sort of response, as they are unable to breathe when they are upside down. You may hear him take a deep breath, or he may arch his back in an attempt to turn himself back over, so he can breathe.

If you do get any sort of a response at all, flip him back over immediately, and cuddle him a bit to calm him down. And then I would recommend getting him to a vet as quickly as possible, and get him some help, it its not too late. From what you've described, it sounds as though he may have choked on something, or vomited and aspirated some of it into his lungs. I can't think of anything else that would take him down that fast, when he seemed fine yesterday, unless, as one of the above posters mentioned, he could have gotten hold of a lightning bug and eaten it. Lightning bugs are extremely toxic to bearded dragons, and if they should eat one of those, it will kill them within just a few minutes, and there is nothing that even a vet can do to save them.

Please post again and let me know if you get any sort of response after doing what I suggested!

ALSO, AN IMPORTANT NOTE TO OTHER FORUM MEMBERS WHO ARE READING
THIS THREAD: The ONLY TIME you should EVER flip a beardie upside down like that is if you can find no other signs of life, and are trying to determine if they are, indeed, still alive, and are breathing. If you have any other signs of life to go by, DO NOT TRY THIS, as if they are very sick, the shock could kill them. THIS METHOD OF CHECKING FOR LIFE SHOULD ONLY BE USED AS A LAST RESORT!!!

 

[DRMiller21]

I did what you suggested, and i didn't get any response, that i noticed. His legs arms and tail feel a lot less stiff then they were before, but his head now feels the stiffest. I tried to open his mouth, and there was no having it, his lips would move but its like he has lock jaw. His eyes look pretty far gone, dry and pretty sunken in.

 

[DRMiller21]

Update, i dont know if this had anything to do about it, but while i was looking at him i noticed a wasp flying around the room he was in. The wasp seemed to be fine, but idk if maybe he ate one or something.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Thank you Denise, as that is really the only way to determine whether or not he has passed. It is not recommended other than the last resort.
Though, the signs you have described do not sound good at all. It does sound like he has choked on something, suddenly if he was fine then shortly thereafter, not fine. Or, a heart attack or stroke is another possibility as well.
I am sorry, I know it is heart breaking, it is never easy to go through anything like this.

Tracie

 

[DRMiller21]

When i noticed he was choking, i did try to massage his throat to try and dislodge whatever might have been in there. I hope that didn't hurt his chances.


Thank you guys soo much, this has been a hard morning for me. he was a great lizard.