Hello,

For those that didn't know, I had a "runted" Bearded Dragon. She was a hold over (due to her size) from last years clutch.

She passed today without any indication that anything was wrong.

When she hatched last year, it was obvious right from the start that there was something different about her. She was far smaller than the other dragons and was immediately housed alone. As the other dragons began to grow, she didn't. Her appetite was sporadic, and her behavior abnormal.

She didn't have any parasites, which was confirmed with a fecal, but she wasn't growing and her eating behaviors were very odd. She would take food every 3 days, and nothing more.

I started her on nutribac, and we saw a massive improvement. Her appetite increased to the point where she has/had been eating daily. I was starting to think that she would actually get over her "disability" and be ok.

This afternoon, when preparing to give her some crickets, I noticed that she was laying beside her food dish (which she ate from this morning). I thought she may be catching a snooze as her eyes were partially open, but she was in fact deceased when I reached in and picked her up.

Everything about her husbandry has been the same since she first hatched. I can rule out impaction, inadequate housing, inadequate temps, etc. It is my contention that her growth spurt contributed to her untimely death.

I have her body being preserved (frozen) and I intend to do a necropsy to see if my theory is correct.

I believe that her organs out grew her petite frame. Its very perplexing as this morning she ate her greens, and was basking.(Her greens were always finely chopped because I believed it helped her to digest them better. At best, her greens were an 1/8 the space between her eyes. They were "finely" chopped using a small salad shredder.) She was alert and active as she always has been. She defecated regularly, and was well hydrated.

Simply put, minus my theory, I can't understand why she passed so abruptly.

I am not terribly upset over her passing as I didn't believe she would ever make it to adulthood. Following the appetite increase though, after using the nutribac, I was beginning to believe that she may prove me wrong but apparently her disability was more for her to handle than I was lead to believe.

Needless to say, I intend on photographing her insides as I perform my amateur necropsy. I am not sure when that will be, as I don't want my children around when I do it.

(For those that are wondering, she was housed on repticarpet as her substrate and has never seen or felt any type of granular substrate.)

If anyone has any ideas or has experienced something similar, feel free to post. I am extremely perplexed as to what could have happened.

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sorry to hear...I had a similar thing happen with my first crested gecko...hatched, though not only did it barely grow but it was something neurological also b/c it didn't have good motor control and stumbled around...lived a little over a yr...not sure of the cause...I bought the female and not the male that was with her and she laid those eggs a few days later...none of her babies with my male have had a problem

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Rachel
www.hatchingherps.bravehost.com

1.0 bearded dragon, 1.1 ball python, 1.2 cornsnake (butter, caramel, normal), 1.1 sinaloan milksnake, 0.1rubber boa, 1.1 jungle carpet python, 3.6.12 crested gecko, 1.1 gargoyle gecko, white's tree frog

Hello,

Its funny that you say that! Phoenix, my dragon that laid the clutch last year, was purchased gravid. (She wasn't sold as gravid! They didn't even know she was gravid. I got her from Regal Reptiles.)

I noticed later that day that Phoenix was acting strange and I thought perhaps that she may be gravid, so I made her a laying bin. That night she layed her clutch. It just so happens that the runt was from that clutch! Things like that make you wonder.

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I'm sorry to hear of your loss, Rich. I can't offer any suggestions but would be very interested in the pictures you get of the necropsy and your findings.

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Val

http://www.reptilerescuerichmond.org

sorry for your loss, i too would be very interested in the pics

sorry to hear about the loss. but it sounds like you gave her a great home.

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Professional Pet Sitting/Dog Walking
http://niksscalesandtails.com/



yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot (RIP) and Bear

Rich-

First off, I'm very sorry for your loss. It stinks when you work so hard and they just expire that way. She's in a better place now and is no longer sick or stunted.

That being said, perhaps it's just nature. Nature has a way of dealing with creatures that are not up-to-par with their siblings. In the wild she would have been killed off right away, as only the strong survive.

So, my guess is that no matter what you did, the end was inevitable for her, nature will have her way and sometimes nothing we do can stop it.

This very topic has recently been discussed on the AIML. We are better able to "save" and treat iguanas that are developing illnesses that would just die in the wild. The moral debate is how far should we take this. When does a creature "deserve" to be let go and no longer sustained in illness, injury or pain. It's a hard argument, but an arguement none the less.

So, perhaps nature simply took its course.

Good luck on the necropsy. If you need any pointers, I'd be glad to help. LOL Not my favorite moment in life, but educational none the less. My advise is to research BD anatomy to the max. It's so much better to have a "road map" once you go in, than to figure it out while you are doing it.

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Regards,
Dominick
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"Do you watch too much television? Did you do so as a toddler? Evidence tonight that it could be the cause of learning disorders, like attention deficit and hyperact-Ooooh, a kitty!" - Keith Olbermann

Sorry to hear Rich....and I am anxious to hear what you find with the necropsy. Lyn

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

So sorry to hear of the passing of the poor guy. rest assured that you did all you could. A necropsy I think is a good idea, for both hoping to determine what the cause was and the educational value. I only wish KJ agreed to do one when we lost Iggy. Good luck Rich,,,and I for one would like to see pictures when you are done.

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Ken
" The United States Marine Corps......sure we are a department of the Navy,,,,,,we're the MENS department "

I'm so sorry Rich.. I know you worked a long time with her and thought she might make it to adult hood. Please do keep us posted on whatever info is found out.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!