Need advice

[Devon]

Hey,

I was on google and came across this forum and i need some help!

On Saturday i purchased a Baby bearded dragon, he was around 3 months old and settled in well and was eating well and was very active. On monday morning i went and turned on his lights and when we went to feed him he was stood with his mouth open and his chin was black and he would not eat. We thought he was stressed so we cot him out to calm him down and have him a stroke and around 10 mins after he sadly died in my mums hands.

We are really confused on whats happened if it was our fault and if we did something wrong. The shop we got him from put in some substrate in his viv what looked like a form of compost because we brought a full setup off them. They didn't have any calcium powder for his food so we went to our local reptile shop to get some and they told us to take the substrate out because it's very bad for them so we did. Now the shop we got him from is saying because we took the substrate out that is why he died because he was too cold at night so we phoned up the reptile shop that told us to take it out and they said its a load of garbage and that would not kill him. One person tells you one thing and another tells you another thing so we really want to try and get to the bottom of this because he was such a lovely animal.

If anyone could help it would mean alot.

Thanks

 

[amsmith5297]

Do you know that name of the substrate?

 

[Devon]

Do you know that name of the substrate?

The woman said it was coco something

It was a brown soil like thing.

 

[amsmith5297]

Baby dragons are more susceptible to things than adults. The coco mulch holds a lot of moisture and beardies don't do well with high humidity. It could also be a possibilty that he could have ingest some of the substrate if you were feeding him inside his enclosure.

 

[Devon]

Baby dragons are more susceptible to things than adults. The coco mulch holds a lot of moisture and beardies don't do well with high humidity. It could also be a possibilty that he could have ingest some of the substrate if you were feeding him inside his enclosure.

We took the substrate out before we put him in the viv as advised, however they had him him in it at the pet shop and they also use Beech Chippings also and I've heard bag things about that. We left him without any substrate as advised.

 

[Taterbug]

I'm sorry to hear about your little guy. Considering you only had him a couple days it is unlikely it was your fault he died. There are a lot of care mistakes people and stores make but few are so quickly fatal to these hardy animals. The store you got him from sounds like they have some very bad husbandry practices. Browse the articles to the right to familiar yourself with the accepted care if you havn't already.

How cold did he get at night?
Can you describe his behavior prior to his passing?
Did he poop in the few days you had him?
Could he have fallen, been injured or otherwise hurt?
Is there a chance the water temperature was too hot or cold? Or that he breathed in a lot of water?

Many people keep their dragons on paper towel and stone tile, they don't need bedding to stay warm. The night time temperatures can safely drop into the mid 60s F with no adverse effect for healthy animals.

Coco coir is not as dangerous a substrate as wood chips, but isn't recommended because it holds moisture, as previously mentioned. It's also dirty. Little dragons can ingest it and get blocked up though.

And not to make it about money, but if you intend to seek compensation for the dragon try to get a refund not a replacement. I would worry about any other animals that place sells.

 

[Devon]

I'm sorry to hear about your little guy. Considering you only had him a couple days it is unlikely it was your fault he died. There are a lot of care mistakes people and stores make but few are so quickly fatal to these hardy animals. The store you got him from sounds like they have some very bad husbandry practices. Browse the articles to the right to familiar yourself with the accepted care if you havn't already.

How cold did he get at night?
Can you describe his behavior prior to his passing?
Did he poop in the few days you had him?
Could he have fallen, been injured or otherwise hurt?
Is there a chance the water temperature was too hot or cold? Or that he breathed in a lot of water?

Many people keep their dragons on paper towel and stone tile, they don't need bedding to stay warm. The night time temperatures can safely drop into the mid 60s F with no adverse effect for healthy animals.

Coco coir is not as dangerous a substrate as wood chips, but isn't recommended because it holds moisture, as previously mentioned. It's also dirty. Little dragons can ingest it and get blocked up though.

And not to make it about money, but if you intend to seek compensation for the dragon try to get a refund not a replacement. I would worry about any other animals that place sells.

Thanks for your response! They wont give us a refund at all and have only offered us another dragon at a discounted cost and the dragon they are offering has toes missing and abit of his tail.

How cold did he get at night? In the 2 nights we had him it was ratha cold in my room so about in the 60s it was but we left the heating in the house on until very late.
Can you describe his behavior prior to his passing? He was very active and was feeding very well and didn't seem to have any problems.
Did he poop in the few days you had him? Yep he did a few poops even during his final night.
Could he have fallen, been injured or otherwise hurt? I don't think so he had a very low log and basking platform.
Is there a chance the water temperature was too hot or cold? Or that he breathed in a lot of water? Do you mean the water in a bowl? We had a very small water bowl and i personally never saw him touch it but there's always a possibility.

It was a very sudden thing we noticed he was unhappy and within 10 mins he died it was very quick. He did do some kind of gasping with his mouth during the time we had him.

 

[Taterbug]

Sorry I misunderstood, I though you had given him a soak/bath that morning.

Was there anything in his cage that could harm him? Hot rocks and heat mats can be dangerous, as well as light bulbs if they can get too close.
Anything small enough to fit in his mouth but to big to swallow? (Including food pellets, insects and decorations).

Unfortunately it sounds unusual so I can't do much more than guess at what could have happened to the little guy. I wish I could be more help.

 

[Devon]

Sorry I misunderstood, I though you had given him a soak/bath that morning.

Was there anything in his cage that could harm him? Hot rocks and heat mats can be dangerous, as well as light bulbs if they can get too close.
Anything small enough to fit in his mouth but to big to swallow? (Including food pellets, insects and decorations).

Unfortunately it sounds unusual so I can't do much more than guess at what could have happened to the little guy. I wish I could be more help.

He has a bath the day before, All he had in his cage was a water bowl, food bowl with some rocket in it what was cut very small. No heat mat etc and the only decorations in there was a wood log and a basking stand thing what was too tall for under the light.

Heres a picture i took of his cage before he died.