My beardie died... question is, why?

[kristyc906]

My beardie was 5 years old. Her name was Dexter. I bought her from a Pet Shop back in 08. About two weeks ago, she started acting funny. I noticed an extreme weight loss in about a week. Her tail bones were showing, her legs were losing lots of weight. Her tail wasn't round and full like normal. She also was not eating as she should. I know it's brumation season here in the US since it's winter, but she never had issues like this before. I took her to a reptile vet out of fear that she had a parasite. I know it's often too late to save them when they start showing symptoms, but I'm curious now as to what happened here. I temped the cage. The coldest side was 80, the hottest (basking point) was 105 degrees Fahrenheit. She was fed a diet of collard greens, gut-loaded superworms and turnip greens. She got calcium about every month. (I learned after her death that I was misinformed on that) She was a picky lizard, wouldn't eat crickets or anything like that. She loved her worms and greens. I took her to the vet and they did a fecal and exam. Fecal was clean, no parasites. Vet said blood test wasn't necessary, but that she was simply dehydrated and needed more nutrients. They gave me a can of cat food (HIlls A/D Critical Care Formula) and said give her as much of that as she'll eat a day by force-feeding. I wasn't keen on force feeding her, either. They also suggested more calcium and gave me liquid calcium and a syringe to administer it by mouth. She was prescribed .2 mL a day. Vet said she'd be fine. Two days after the vet visit, I come home from work and find her in her cage dead. Any ideas on what could've been the problem here? Just feeling a little lost after losing my beardie.

 

[NightFury]

Hello,

I am terribly sorry on you loss!

A blood test could of really helped but her being in that condition could of made things worse. It is so hard to say considering the symptoms you gave are vague and it could be so many reasons she passed. Is there anything else strange she was doing? Extreme thirst by chance? dragging while walking? what supplements did you give her?

I can see why you want answers, it is very hard to lose a beardie. I am sorry I can not provide much of an answer.

-Shilo

 

[kristyc906]

Hello,

I am terribly sorry on you loss!

A blood test could of really helped but her being in that condition could of made things worse. It is so hard to say considering the symptoms you gave are vague and it could be so many reasons she passed. Is there anything else strange she was doing? Extreme thirst by chance? dragging while walking? what supplements did you give her?

I can see why you want answers, it is very hard to lose a beardie. I am sorry I can not provide much of an answer.

-Shilo

Thank you. I thought about the blood test. The vet vaguely mentioned it, but brushed it off. She was acting okay, still running around like she usually does. I gave her Fluker's Liquid Vitamin about 4 days before she died and then her daily calcium supplement from the vet. She wasn't dragging her legs or showing extreme thirst, which is one of the reasons the dehydration threw me off a tad. Her cage set-up consisted of a standing water dish big enough for her whole body, so she always had warm water to lay in. I just figured since this is a beardie forum, people would know more than I do.

 

[daner923]

I'm not sure it matches the symptoms, but having water in the tank often leads to respiratory infections due to high humidity. Not sure a respiratory infection could kill that quickly though. The cat food kind of worries me, though. I have no idea if that is at all healthy for a dragon, but I have never seen suggested on this site.

 

[kristyc906]

I'm not sure it matches the symptoms, but having water in the tank often leads to respiratory infections due to high humidity. Not sure a respiratory infection could kill that quickly though. The cat food kind of worries me, though. I have no idea if that is at all healthy for a dragon, but I have never seen suggested on this site.

I'd heard about the standing water thing, too when I was researching. The humidity level in her tank never really rose, surprisingly. My house is naturally dry due to being 100 years old so I think that helped with the humidity staying low. The cat food kind of alarmed me because I know too much nutrients can also kill them. But I do agree, I thought about a respiratory infection when I took her to the vet, but the vet said dehydration and the fact that she didn't have enough calcium. It's kind of a complicated case, really.

 

[daner923]

Like I said, I'm really not sure, and if you've ruled that out, then I'm stumped, too. I am sorry for your loss.

 

[kristyc906]

Like I said, I'm really not sure, and if you've ruled that out, then I'm stumped, too. I am sorry for your loss.

Thank you. I'm stumped as well. Hopefully things can be figured out soon.