Trying to find out why Miss Buddy passed..

[StaceysBuddy]

I'm not sure if this is the correct place to ask this. It's not urgent since there isn't anything I can do now. I used to be very active on this site but kinda stopped getting on because I had my Miss Buddy for so long I thought I had all of her behaviour habits down.

So Miss Buddy started acting strange last Friday. She had an extremely black beard and was pooping a lot, to the point there wasn't any poop anymore.She was also running around her tank. I thought she was gravid, since she has laid eggs many of times. I thought it was the wrong time of the year but I didn't think much of it since I have moved quite a bit. On Saturday I checked on her and noticed that she still had a black beard which isn't normal. She wasn't pooping anymore and no longer running around her cage. She was sleeping a lot, which didn't support my gravid theory. I gave her a bath thinking maybe she was a bit dehydrated because her eyes looked a little sunk in. Nothing crazy but I could notice it. She was basically lifeless in the bath. I thought then she was going into brumation. She also stopped eating (which could go with gravid or brumation). I let her fall asleep on me that night and I put her back to bed.
Sunday I turned on her lights in the morning, she didn't wake up. I didn't think much of it. I went to work. When I came back, I went to pick her up and she was gone. She must have passed in her sleep. I don't know when. It could have been Saturday night or Sunday morning.

I don't know what happened. I have some theories but nothing concrete.

I use a ReptiSun tube that was just about 6months old. Basking was at 100-103 and cool side was right about 75. She was in a HUGE tank. 6 feet long. I don't know the gallon. I used a temp gun to measure the temps. She mostly ate superworms and collard greens. I would mix it up with crickets and other veggies.
She was almost 4 years old.

(I am better today than other days. I was a wreck when I found her and a wreck for days. I got her cremated and now she is back home with me.)

 

[AHBD]

First of all, I'm soooooo sorry about Miss buddy. I know that your heart is broken, I truly feel for you ! It may be that she was gravid and became eggbound. That would fit with many of the symptoms....restlessness, constant black beard , lots of poos and then suddenly very lethargic right before they die. Another guess is possibly liver problems or a quick growing tumor.....but I'm guessing more likely that she was eggbound. Again, I'm so sorry and my heart goes out to you.

 

[StaceysBuddy]

Thank you. It's been really rough. People don't understand how attached to her I was. I know people on this website know but my job doesn't. I wanted to call into work but couldn't. My family basically understand. They called her my kid.

I thought about her being eggbound but she didn't show any signs of being gravid until that Friday. She may have done it when I wasn't home but usually she is going crazy her in tank for a week and pooping a lot for more than just a day. She has laid 7 clutches of eggs in her life. I thought I would reconigze the symptoms.

I'm not sure but I guess that could be it. I thought about her being very stressed out from me moving a lot. I moved from Arizona to Iowa this July. Then moved to a different house in November. Then got her a new tank about 2-3weeks ago. I figured she would be stressed but her belly stayed white.

I'm thinking egg bound as well though. I wish I would have known. I would have put her in her sandbox.

 

[AHBD]

If she became eggbound for some reason, it may have ended up the same even if you had put her in a laybox. Most dragons will lay them out of desperation even with no lay box, anywhere in the tank so it may just be that it was a true eggbinding that nothing you did would have made a difference. Sometimes a vet can administer a shot of Oxytocin to induce to lay, but that's not always successful either. Sad to say, at times a female just can't pass the eggs. Don't blame yourself at all, you would have bent over backwards for her. She had a good mom.

 

[Esther19]

It's not your fault. You did your very best for her and she knew how much you loved her.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am so sorry you lost your girl so suddenly. That is so horribly devastating & heart breaking.
I agree, she may have been egg bound, or an egg that was retained perhaps that could have burst inside of her causing internal bleeding, or infection.
You did everything you could & it came on quickly. It most definitely isn't anything that you did wrong.
Sometimes unfortunately they just have egg issues & there isn't anything anyone can do.
I am so sorry for your loss, I understand feeling like her being a family member, she was.

Tracie

 

[Heyimbrit]

This sounds pretty familiar. I lost Prince a few weeks ago and he had a black beard from the night before he died until he was put down the next day. He was very lethargic for a few days before I lost him and he was pooping a lot too. He lost a lot of weight a couple weeks before that and I didn't have the money to take him to the vet. I thought maybe he was tired and not eating because he was getting ready for brumation but the night before I lost him I knew that wasn't the case. I let him sleep in my bed with me that night and checked on him every hour to make sure he was still alive. I couldn't bear to wake up and find him not breathing anymore.

I took him to an emergency vet the next day and he was already almost gone. I decided to have him put down to end his pain. I'm not sure how I feel about that now. After finding out how reptiles are euthanized I wish I would've let him pass in my arms where he loved to be. I ended up getting him cremated too because I couldn't bear to see him when I picked him up from the vet the next day and didn't want him to rot away in someone's yard.

Looking back at it now, I think he had something wrong with his kidney(s) because he always seemed to want water. I would give him water every day and he would drink up most of the bowl really fast. It was like he could never get enough.

I'm sorry you lost your baby girl. I know how you feel and it's very hard. Just know that you did the best that you could for her and that she had a great life with you. You'll see her again someday.

 

[StaceysBuddy]

I'm sorry to hear about Prince as well. I'm not sure if it's the same issue or not. Miss Buddy didn't seem to lose any weight, not that I noticed. I figured something was wrong from the black beard and then her eyes seemed to sink in. She was a chub so I think I would have noticed some weight lose. She still had her fat pads on her head.
I wanted to take Miss Buddy to the vet but she didn't make it to Monday. I'm not even sure the vet would have been able to do anything. I'm thinking that she was egg bound or an egg burst in her. She had all the signs of being gravid but then something happened over night basically.

I did get her cremated. I waited a couple days because I read horror stories of people believing their beardie was dead just to find out they were brumating. Once she passed, she was still limp for a few days so I was nervous that there was still some possible way she was alive. I knew she was gone but I didn't want the thought of her being alive and me getting her cremated. The day I moved her to put in a container to be cremated she was stiff. That assured me that she was gone. She didn't look much different. Above her eyes were kinda gray but that's about it. I was under the assumption beardies would "decay" faster or be recognizably deceased.
It was $90 to get her cremated. I don't have a lot of money so that was a big expense for me. I ended up having to donate plasma to afford it.
I am going to be putting up a shelf and putting her in a different urn next to a WillowTree figurine that says "Rememberance".

I like to believe she passed in her sleep. Her eyes were shut and her legs/arms were in her sleeping position. She fell asleep on my chest Saturday night, then I put her in her tank. I found her on Sunday. I like to believe she passed with the memory of being close to me.
I am thinking about getting another one but at the same time it's really hard. I don't want to replace her but I do miss having my snuggle beardie.

 

[Heyimbrit]

$90 is a lot. I found a place in Arizona that did it for $55. I made him a memorial on the top of my tv stand with his blanket, stuffed animal, harness, clay pawprint and a picture of him. I put him up there and I talk to him every day and tell him that I love him.