My Beardie Suddenly Died Today :((((

[Specimen]

Hey Guys,

I have 3 Bearded Dragons that are roughly 4-6months old, two of them are significantly bigger than the little one. Yesterday the two bigger ones were bobbing heads and fighting, I watched the whole thing and I dont think it was to serious, im assuming it was either territorial behavior or play behavior. Due to a sudden work injury i had not fed them crickets for two days ( i know his is bad, i just could not get money together, all good now though), i was still feeding them veggies.
I woke up this morning and one of the big ones was curling up in a ball and his tail was twitching and his whole body shaking, im using coconut husk as a substrate and there was some in his mouth. I cleared it out and then he open his mouth and looked like to take his last gasp for air and then died. I cried for like an hour
I fed the other two today as i was paid in the afternoon and they seem fine. I am running a reptiglow 10.0 uvb light and two exoterra infrared 60w heat lamps.
He also has two black spots on his head. .

can anyone tell me why this happened????

thanks in advance.

 

[Grogshla]

seperate them immediately dude and I would bump up basking temps to 40 degrees. Give them a bath in luke warm water that is only up to their shoulders and watch them all the time. Let them soak for about 10-15 mins.
Young dragons are eating machines so it is important that you try and make an effort to re work your budget so you can afford to keep these pets in proper conditions so they can thrive!
best of luck mate

 

[snakeynewbie]

Buy a tin of the tinned crickets and keep it in the cupboard for emergencies

 

[KaotikJezta]

honestly, at 6 months old, if they were still eating veges, 2 days without crickets should not matter. I would be more concerned about the mysterious dots. I had an baby EWD die years ago whilst on coco peat, don't know if that was why. Still doesn't explain the dots and it seems really sudden for an impaction problem.

 

[ajandj]

as grogshla siad, seperate them.. beardies shouldn't be kept together unless breeding and then only under supervision unless you have a mass outdoor pit or a gigantic indoor enclosure. Coconut husk - is that the one that comes in a bick and you soak it in water? If so, then maybe your beardie has Respiratory problems - beardies need very little humidity - if it's not the wet type.. sorry for confusion.
I would definately take the baby to the vet to find out what it died from as it may be parasite and you don't want to loose the other two. Make sure the temps are up in the enclosure and keep a really close eye on the other two.
Just out of curiousity, what size crickets have you been feeding?

 

[Specimen]

yer im using the dry coconut husk pre-made, so to speak in the big bag. I feed them medium sized crickets.The two big ones, one of which died are/where a decent size (bout 25 cm long including tail, little one bout 18). I noticed the big ones both gorged as in had 2 or 3 in its mouth at once and their throats swell up. The little one had a viscious twitch for about 3 days but it went away. I still have my dead beardie, should I take him to the vet to see what was the cause of death?

 

[Helikaon]

what calcium do you give them? crickets have none and most vegetables are rather lacking some even being high in oxalates which can inhibit calcium absorption. twitching is a significant symptom of hypocalaemia

 

[Specimen]

im giving them "REPTI CALCIUM" made by zoomed. I got it from amazing amazon. I hace seen so many different things about d3 being toxic I cant decide.

 

[Helikaon]

how are you giving it? how often? and how much?

 

[Specimen]

i coat the crickets in a bucket and feed three of them between 15 and 20 total. sadly now only two. I do this 2-3 times a week.

 

[ajandj]

the food you offer should be no bigger than the space between their eyes. I have a 9 month old dragon who is 14 1/2 inches from snout to tail tip and l've only just switched him to medium.

I would definately take the dead beardie to the vet. You need to know what killed it, you have 2 othere dragons that you need to consider. I agree with KaotikJezta, a day or 2 without crickets isn't the end of the world providing you have salad mix for them to eat. What greens / veg to you offer your beardies?

KaotikJezta - what spots??

 

[Fireflyshuffle]

As previously posted it would have been better they were separated in the first place as you already mentioned there is a difference in size, regardless which one it was, and you had already seen them fighting..This is not "play". Beardies are solitary animals and only come together to breed.
With the dot on the head, are you sure your not mistaking its third eye? Located in the center on the top? This is normal.
Id be separating both you have left, as you now have one big, one small and be putting them on paper. Assess them daily as often as you can as there is now a number of reasons to why it could have happened.

 

[ajandj]

sorry, missed the part about the dots in your original post.I would say it's the third eye. Can you take a photo and post it?

 

[Chris1]

very sorry to hear

i doubt it has anything to do with not having crickets for 2 days, and by the between the regular suppliments and the UVB lights, its not likely to be frlom a calcium deficiency.

Unfortunately beardies are susceptible to infections that come out of no where and they drop dead within 24 hours or less.

at the beginning of July i almost lost one to that, forltunately i got her top the vet on time for antibiotics and she survived.

i'll find the link,......

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-reptile-discussion-42/boo-165589/

(click on boo, thats the link)

 

[Helikaon]

mm, with giving calcium like that you should be fine calcium wise and for a young dragon i doubt it would have a parathyroid problem. overly it could have been a tonne of things, it sucks though. A post mortem would be interesting but may also show nothing.

 

[Justdragons]

third eye??

 

[ajandj]

It's also called Parietal eye on the top of their head

 

[miss2]

sorry to hear of your loss
can i ask how big there tank is?

 

[Red-Ink]

Hey Guys,

I have 3 Bearded Dragons that are roughly 4-6months old, two of them are significantly bigger than the little one. Yesterday the two bigger ones were bobbing heads and fighting, I watched the whole thing and I dont think it was to serious, im assuming it was either territorial behavior or play behavior. Due to a sudden work injury i had not fed them crickets for two days ( i know his is bad, i just could not get money together, all good now though), i was still feeding them veggies.
I woke up this morning and one of the big ones was curling up in a ball and his tail was twitching and his whole body shaking, im using coconut husk as a substrate and there was some in his mouth. I cleared it out and then he open his mouth and looked like to take his last gasp for air and then died. I cried for like an hour
I fed the other two today as i was paid in the afternoon and they seem fine. I am running a reptiglow 10.0 uvb light and two exoterra infrared 60w heat lamps.
He also has two black spots on his head. .

can anyone tell me why this happened????

thanks in advance.

I would say that the substrate would be your number 1 culprit, sorry for you lose.

 

[Specimen]

thanks everyone for your input, has really helped me, I cleaned out the tank of coconut husk and replaced it with newspaper, my other big one looks like he's losing his colour except for a bit on the tip of his nose, around his neck and under the chin it looks like its turning blue!?! I also increased the basking temp and they seem to be a little more active.

View attachment 221820View attachment 221821View attachment 221822View attachment 221823

Here they are guys, puff the little one and i haven't named the big one. See on the top of the big one's head, getting dull and the colour on his chin/neck?
I'm using a 2ft tank for them you can see better in the last picture.
Yeah i removed the substrate as you can see, i think its for the best.
Another thing, when i sprayed the big one with water on th head today he ran away and shook his head (never done that before)