Why did Dobby die?

[Onlymediocre]

I just had Dobby outside.. we go outside everyday that its nice and sunny... I put him in a clear storage tub (1/2 in the sun, 1/2 in the shade) with a towel in the bottom and a few smooth rocks in there to bask on... Well after sitting out there for a while (he had his mouth open, which wasnt unusual when being outside) I seen he hadnt moved in a while, I went to pick him up and he was stiff... What the crap happened?!?!?! Im sooo upset.. I havent even told my daughter shes 4, and is just asking me why Im crying... We just had him out with us in the living room on the couch right b4 this and he was being his normal self walking back and forth between me and her and climbing on our shoulders and what not.. NOTHING seemed wrong. And now hes gone. Im at a loss, I didnt do anything wrong, did I? I thought the sun was good for him! Been taking him out there almost daily, and he didnt eat any random bugs or anything... did he over heat? why wouldnt he of moved to the shade?? I know he didnt have any parasites, I got a fecal done last month.

 

[Tonja]

I am so very sorry you lost your dobby. Its possible that he may have overheated. I really don't know. You have my sympathy and prayers.

 

[Onlymediocre]

Thanks, I honestly dont know what happened, Im so upset and just keep thinking if only I wouldnt of took him outside today. My 4 yr old is taking it better than the 8 yr old whos also taking the news ALOT better than me. I just dont understand why he wouldnt of moved into the shade... and I was right there...he probably thought I stuck him out in the heat and left him to die... It wasnt even that hot outside today. I loved him so much, Im going to miss everything about him. Not getting to tuck him in and cuddle at night, and not getting to wake up and watch him munch on roaches... He was the best. And I guess some how I failed him. I just dont get how he was perfectly healthy, and all of a sudden. If he was sickly I could understand, at least it would of been expected. But I cant understand this at all... He only lived to be around 2 1/2 months old, 10 inches long, and 60 g. His life was cut way too short.

 

[AHBD]

I'm truly sorry about this sad, sad accident ! Don't blame yourself, if he's been out before, then it may not have been the heat. It only takes an instant for a toxic bug, like a firefly, to land in the bin and get eaten. That may have been what happened. I've seen my dragons eat a bee and a wasp, with no problems, but a lightning bug would be deadly quickly. I'm so sorry , you may never really know, but you did nothing wrong.

 

[Onlymediocre]

I will nvr know.. My husband told me to take him to the vet and get them to find out what happened, but I cant stand the thought of him getting dissected. Im pretty sure he didnt eat any bugs. But he died in a basking position (like standing on his front legs, with his bum on the towel) with his mouth open. Would a lightening bug cause death that quickly? I swear like 10-15 mins b4 I seen he had died he was fine. Ive calmed down a little now, but still crying off and on. He's now in his finally resting place, all burrito-ed up in his blankie, and laying on top of another blankie so hes comfy (and Im crying again...) The kids and I collected some pretty smooth stones, and I wrote his name on the biggest, and his approx DOB and todays date. and we covered his grave in them. I just feel so bad.

 

[beardie parents]

I'm really sorry it happened. I do know that it only takes a minute for them to eat a bug and you may not have noticed it. We take Rosie outside in the sun daily, assuming she's awake and it's warm enough (she brumated last year a little and the year before longer). We have a leash for her that we insist she have on when we take her outside because she likes to wander (we have plenty of yard space and she's gotten used to wandering where she wants to. We have a florescent orange shoelace tied onto her leash so it makes it easier to find her. We have never used a plastic tub, except when we were soaking them in warmish water outside.

BTW: I do know how you feel, loosing him, especially that fast. They really crawl into our hearts quickly and only beardie lovers that have lost one understand how much it hurts. They are like scaly dogs but better, they don't make any noise but they communicate much better than furry animals do, in my opinion. The only way to know (maybe) is to have a necropsy done on him but I've learned that the only way to get them back is if they cremate them and I prefer to bury them than to have that done.

 

[Burra]

I was thinking lightning bug as well. Just 1 can kill an adult beardie very fast, and since Doby was a baby it would be faster.
I'm so sorry for your loss. It's amazing what personalities these little guys have and how attached we get to them.

 

[JenFid]

I am so sorry to hear that I had a similar experience with an iguana and believe it was due to overheating. This was when I was very young, maybe 8 or 9? We were bug bombing the house so moved his tank outside in the shade. We left for only a couple hours to do some shopping and when we came back, my iguana was in the exact same position your Dobby was, fozen stiff standing up; the sun had moved while we were gone and he was no longer in the shade. I was so devastated I wouldn't go out and bury him with my parents

But that is strange, if he had available shade you would think he'd move once he got too hot...so maybe he did eat something? Who knows...again I'm so sorry, I know exactly how you feel

 

[Onlymediocre]

thanks all, I dont know why he wouldnt of moved to the shade if it was overheating... and whether it was a lightening bug or not they are now on my kill on sight list... I dont know what happened, it just makes no sense to me at all. He was so precious... And I was so looking forward to him getting all grown up, and he was getting more and more orange with each shed...and he was fixing to shed again. He was beautiful. He was my little buddy. I cant believe how attached I got to him in the short amount of time he had on this earth. And IDK wtc Im gonna do with all my time now. Ive spent so much time researching into everything beardie so I could get everything right.. I planned on him being around for at minimum 10 yrs. And this forum has been an awesome source for info. I thank all of you for hlping me give Dobby all the best for the time he was here. I thought I was prepared for anything with him.. having daily browsed the forum, for new info. But nothing could have prepared me for this. But since beating myself up for the past 5 hrs, and my husband telling me it was out of my control, I was doing what was best getting him some real sunlight, there was nothing I could do. Im still always going to wonder why, what if... It just hurts so bad..

 

[traceyb73]

I am truly so sorry for your loss. It's just heartbreaking to lose an animal and these guys do work their way into our hearts so fast. It was out of your control and you can't blame yourself. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Tracey

 

[SamusTheDragon]

I'm so sorry about Dobby . It's not your fault, you didn't fail him, you loved him. You'll probably never really know why he passed, but regardless it's a hard ordeal. A couple years ago, I got two petsmart beardies. I didn't do any research besides the petsmart "care sheet", a book, and an employee's "advice" well long story short, had them for a year, one got really sick, the other did too (like a genius, I had the two together in a TINY tank), so I took them to the vet got the one better, and kept the other off the brink of complete sickness that my smaller one was in. I was saving money for a new tank, and basically I was treating them for worms. The vet gave me panacur, and the little guys wouldn't take it, so we did the old credit card trick, but, once again, lacking proper experience and knowledge, my dad and I most likely overdosed them. I came home the next day from school and found both of them dead. I spent the whole night crying, and angry because I thought they were getting better. Trust me my accident was preventable, I didn't know anything that I really should of, and didn't know of this site. A year later I got a new beardie after much research, searching why mine died, what I did wrong, and made efforts to fix my mistakes before I decided to get another buddy. Yours was just a fluke! Seriously, please don't be too harsh on yourself, you did everything right, sometimes things just get out of our control. Dobby knows you loved him, as corny as that sounds... but beardies do so many unexpected things it wouldn't surprise me if beardies could attach in some form.

 

[kcarello]

I am so sorry to hear about Dobby! My thoughts and prayers go out to you.
Hugs,
Kelly

 

[Esther19]

I am so very sorry for your loss.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am so sorry, how horrible to go through that.
Dobby could have eaten a firefly, possibly. Was his beard black?
Also, maybe something scared him & he had a heart attack?

I am very sorry you had to lose him that way.

Tracie

 

[Onlymediocre]

Hello,

I am so sorry, how horrible to go through that.
Dobby could have eaten a firefly, possibly. Was his beard black?
Also, maybe something scared him & he had a heart attack?

I am very sorry you had to lose him that way.

Tracie

No, his beard wasnt black at all...He didnt have any stress marks or anything. I figure thats pretty strange cause I figured if he was in some sort or distress he would of black bearded or AT LEAST had stress marks??... I only seen him black beard once, when I had him chilling with me on the laptop and I sneezed.. He was on the other side of the couch and black bearded in 1/2 a second. And it took me about 15 minutes of petting and talking to him until he calmed down... It was actually pretty cute.

I couldnt sleep for anything last night...grrr.. Beardie dreams... My husband spent all evening last night searching lizards and snakes...and suggesting dif ones to me..I kept trying to nicely inform him I was in no mood for it (it was pure torture!).. I just want my Dobby. So he started searching CL :shock: and breeders on line.. IDK if Im rdy for another so fast (I mean this JUST happened!). But I know he means well, and just doesnt like to see me so upset. So I gave in and sit and watched him search... Crying periodically. We did message a couple of ppl, asking them questions about their beardies...Hey it was a distraction at least, lol... It was fun to even hear my husband saying oh, they have that one on sand...does that say they feed it mealworms...wheres its uvb... lol.. I think he liked Dobby a bit more than he let on I know him and Dobby was in a head bobbing war.. lol. Anywho, he was looking into females... (guess maybe he was jealous of another guy getting all of my attention ) with the thought being then we could always get another female and they could be out together. Is the only way to be able to have ur beardies out around eachother to get only females? Or does it just depend on the dragons? (NOT that Im running to the store now to get one... but maybe one day)