Anyone have an idea what happened

[P1harleyford]

Hello this is my first post I appreciate any ideas in case we get a new beardie I don't want the same thing to happen we had spike for 1 year and 6 months everything had been great he has always eaten good we always tried to make sure he was taken care of his diet was crickets from the pet store mostly kale and asparagus we did mix it up from time to time carrots fruits (very rarely) and the ref pellets we always kept some of those in his pin on sand always reptile carpet he was my sons pet and he done a great job of keeping his encloser clean we gave spike baths every week or two sprayed him every morning but something happened night before last we woke up to a dead dragon we are all devastated and the vet had no idea of what happened I want to tell my son that we can get him another one but I don't want this to happen again any help would be appreciated


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[Hdrydr31]

Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear about Spike Do you have any recent pictures of him and the enclosure? How were the temps in the areas of the tank? If you all do get another which I hope you do make sure you really sterilize the tank and items in case Spike had something you don't want to pass along. Was he clear of parasites? If you haven't already please take a look at the links below several of our comments we put together a bunch of info and food items is one of those we use 2 links of foods kale is one of those items that is an occas to feed as long as you include things like collards, mustard greens, dandelion greens, turnip greens..
Again sorry to hear of his passing.

 

[lukas owens]

wow, I can't even comprehend how this affects you, I dealt with this sort of thing too, I can't really tell what happened, but I'm sorry to hear about spike.

 

[BeardedDragon65]

Sorry to hear about the loss . You could have used better vegetables. And just a quick tip, if you do get another, buy crickets offline or use dubia roaches.

 

[Canicke]

my condolences. we really would like to help you - if we can - with whatever we can. a description of set up including pics would help. Will it NEVER happen again? there are no guarantees. sometimes life just stops no matter what we do. I do agree that kale should be an "occasional" - don't beat yourself up over it. do check out the links, please

 

[P1harleyford]

Thanks for all the replies

Here is his home minus the reptile carpet and log that I threw away after he past 50 gallon I think the kit came with three lights a basking, a uvb, and a night light but the temp wasn't high enough so I bought another on the right the temp stayed about 105 and on the left about 90-95

And this is spike just a couple weeks ago he was scratching at the door wanting to go out so we took him out for a few I didn't know kale was a occasional thing it was his main food source and the question was asked about parasites and until he died I've never heard of it how do you test for that and if it's at a vet how often do you take yours to get a check up


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[P1harleyford]

Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear about Spike Do you have any recent pictures of him and the enclosure? How were the temps in the areas of the tank? If you all do get another which I hope you do make sure you really sterilize the tank and items in case Spike had something you don't want to pass along. Was he clear of parasites? If you haven't already please take a look at the links below several of our comments we put together a bunch of info and food items is one of those we use 2 links of foods kale is one of those items that is an occas to feed as long as you include things like collards, mustard greens, dandelion greens, turnip greens..
Again sorry to hear of his passing.

Where can I find the food links you mentioned I would love to check them out thanks for the reply I responded to some of your questions in the thread btw


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[PatsyB]

Sorry for your loss. Here's a link to good veggies and fruits. Kale is now deemed okay if it is mixed with other healthy greens and not given just on it's own and asparagus should only be an occasional food as well as carrots and other fruit. http://greathousefarm.com/Greathouse-Reptile-Nutrition-List.pdf

Looking at your pictures it looks like you were using a coil UVB light. You wan the UVB to cover at least 2/3'rds of your tank and the coil bulbs only concentrate it in one area. They can also damage your beardies eyes. You should get a temperature gun or a digital probe so that you can measure the temps right in the basking spot. The analog gauges on the side of the tank only measure that spot and not where your beardie is actually sitting.

The tank looks like it was a bit small for his size. A 40 gallon tank is the minimum size for an adult dragon. You want something that is going to be at least twice their length so that they can easily turn around and move around. You also want something long enough that is going to allow a temperature gradient from the high basking spot temp to around 80 degrees on the cool side of the tank. 90-95 is a little too hot for the cool side.

If you look under mine, Canicke and Hdrydr31's responses it says "need help have basic questions on care, take a look at these links"Right under that are the links to basic care.

 

[P1harleyford]

Sorry for your loss. Here's a link to good veggies and fruits. Kale is now deemed okay if it is mixed with other healthy greens and not given just on it's own and asparagus should only be an occasional food as well as carrots and other fruit. http://greathousefarm.com/Greathouse-Reptile-Nutrition-List.pdf

Looking at your pictures it looks like you were using a coil UVB light. You wan the UVB to cover at least 2/3'rds of your tank and the coil bulbs only concentrate it in one area. They can also damage your beardies eyes. You should get a temperature gun or a digital probe so that you can measure the temps right in the basking spot. The analog gauges on the side of the tank only measure that spot and not where your beardie is actually sitting.

The tank looks like it was a bit small for his size. A 40 gallon tank is the minimum size for an adult dragon. You want something that is going to be at least twice their length so that they can easily turn around and move around. You also want something long enough that is going to allow a temperature gradient from the high basking spot temp to around 80 degrees on the cool side of the tank. 90-95 is a little too hot for the cool side.

If you look under mine, Canicke and Hdrydr31's responses it says "need help have basic questions on care, take a look at these links"Right under that are the links to basic care.

Ok thanks I saved that nutrition guide and I will correct the lights if I get another one obviously I had some bad information but I'm new to this app so I'm having trouble finding the links you guys are talking about this is what I see under your response

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[PatsyB]

Hmm Maybe with Tap Talk you can't see them....let's do it this way.

http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/threads/general-info-set-up-1st-timers.13863/
http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/threads/diseases.13956/

 

[P1harleyford]

Thanks I will give those a look


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[Hdrydr31]

Yea some information can't be seen when on taptalk sorry..
If you do get another beardie it is important to find a reptile vet (or a vet that has good experience with them) lizards are prone to parasites such as pinworms, coccidia, round worms and a few others, it is normal to have some in them it's when they get out of control that can overload their bellies causing them to get sick...
It's good practice to get their poop tested once you get them, before and after they brummate (hibernate) and if they go off their food and get lethargic...

If you do get another check the links and look at the lighting section tube style UVB T5 10.0 are really good.

 

[P1harleyford]

I defiantly will rethink my lighting and he had never really quit eating ever so I'm not sure if he did ever Brumate he may slow down eating every once in a while but he always ate so I never had him seen by a vet even down to the night before he died he ate now looking back it was a little light for him but like I said sometime he would do that idk but I do appreciate all the feedback and will have to give some consideration to whether or not I will try again but if I do I will get different lighting and a new diet regimens I saved your nutrition guide to my phone just in case he was a really cool pet my son won't even sleep in his room anymore without his little buddy but I'm sure he'll get over this wood were all sad about this I hate to think we could have been part of what happened to him because we thought everything was going great for 1 1/2 years he went from about three inches to 16 inches and always gentle never aggressive he will be missed thanks for the help advice and sympathy


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