Dead beardie? Please help!

[DragonRose]

Hey, I have a 7 month old bearded dragon and when I came home today I found him lying on his back. He is not breathing at all and when I picked him up he was stiff and limp. I think he died but I don't know what caused it exactly. He has a 4'x2'x2' enclosure with no loose substrate. There has been a huge cricket shortage and a bug shortage in general here and dubia roaches are now illegal in Florida for some reason so the only bug I could get him was mealworms, which isn't the best for a juvenile. I fed him veggies, such as collared greens and green beans and occasionally some other things like carrots and such. I would also dust his food in calcium with D3 vitamin. He has a reptisun 10.0 UVB light and one 150watt heat/uva light that stays above the screen lid and another 100watt heat/uva light that is equipped under the screen lid. He has some hides and he would also go under the hammock in the corner for shade. For the past couple days he has been wobbly and had a hard time seeing and catching his food. He would still act alert and look around at everything with excitement though, but then again he just turned over on his back, suffocated, and now appears totally lifeless. I first got him from petsmart back in March and he has always showed signs of health problems since day 1. I'm pretty sad about it and he was my only pet. I would like to know if there was anything better I could've done because I would like to get another beardie and not mess up. Thanks Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Stardraco1]

So sorry about your little beardie. I bought a little beardie from
petsmart also I had him for 3 months and he passed away. My little guy( Eddy) was doing good at first but then he couldn't walk good and started wobbling and not eating. We took him to the vet they xrayed him and said he had MBD and that he most likely had it when I bought him. The vet gave him a dose of calcium and fed him some special food in dropper. Told me to bring him back in two days to feed him again but poor Eddy passed before then. Petsmart does not have enough knowledge about bearded dragons. They do not take the best care of them and a lot are ill already. They don't go over the lighting and enclosure temps.

I was heart broken we buried Eddy. We did get another beardie since but purchased him from a place that gets them directly from breeders and it is a reptile shop. You can't purchase a reptile from them until you bring in your lighting and they test it and they go over your set up for the enclosure.
Your little Beardie may have been ill when you got him.

So sorry again for your loss.

 

[DragonRose]

So sorry about your little beardie. I bought a little beardie from
petsmart also I had him for 3 months and he passed away. My little guy( Eddy) was doing good at first but then he couldn't walk good and started wobbling and not eating. We took him to the vet they xrayed him and said he had MBD and that he most likely had it when I bought him. The vet gave him a dose of calcium and fed him some special food in dropper. Told me to bring him back in two days to feed him again but poor Eddy passed before then. Petsmart does not have enough knowledge about bearded dragons. They do not take the best care of them and a lot are ill already. They don't go over the lighting and enclosure temps.

I was heart broken we buried Eddy. We did get another beardie since but purchased him from a place that gets them directly from breeders and it is a reptile shop. You can't purchase a reptile from them until you bring in your lighting and they test it and they go over your set up for the enclosure.
Your little Beardie may have been ill when you got him.

So sorry again for your loss.

Thank you, I will be searching for a healthy beardie at some of the local reptile shops. I'm also sorry for your little Eddy. It's always sad to see pets go. But I know that I have given my beardie Basil the best life he could have and he was always happy and curious about everything.

 

[CaHarding]

Hey, I have a 7 month old bearded dragon and when I came home today I found him lying on his back. He is not breathing at all and when I picked him up he was stiff and limp. I think he died but I don't know what caused it exactly. He has a 4'x2'x2' enclosure with no loose substrate. There has been a huge cricket shortage and a bug shortage in general here and dubia roaches are now illegal in Florida for some reason so the only bug I could get him was mealworms, which isn't the best for a juvenile. I fed him veggies, such as collared greens and green beans and occasionally some other things like carrots and such. I would also dust his food in calcium with D3 vitamin. He has a reptisun 10.0 UVB light and one 150watt heat/uva light that stays above the screen lid and another 100watt heat/uva light that is equipped under the screen lid. He has some hides and he would also go under the hammock in the corner for shade. For the past couple days he has been wobbly and had a hard time seeing and catching his food. He would still act alert and look around at everything with excitement though, but then again he just turned over on his back, suffocated, and now appears totally lifeless. I first got him from petsmart back in March and he has always showed signs of health problems since day 1. I'm pretty sad about it and he was my only pet. I would like to know if there was anything better I could've done because I would like to get another beardie and not mess up. Thanks Any advice is appreciated.
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So sorry to hear about the loss of your dragon. Do you have heat gauges in the terrarium? They need a hot side for basking. And a cool side to get away from the heat. I have a 4 month old and one side is gauged with a probe under the basking rock at 105. And the cool side stays at 80 during the day and 72 at night. Is it possible she overheated? Heat lamps on both ends seems very hot. Again I’m so sorry about your loss.

 

[HoomanSlave]

Sorry to hear about your little guy.

Unfortunately, Petsmart/Petco lizards are notorious for having MBD and dying early on. You may want to consider buying from a breeder or exotics store, or even better, adopting one from an animal shelter.
It was probably nothing you did, and instead the result of being raised under a poor UVB light in the pet store.

 

[tortadon]

Hey, I have a 7 month old bearded dragon and when I came home today I found him lying on his back. He is not breathing at all and when I picked him up he was stiff and limp. I think he died but I don't know what caused it exactly. He has a 4'x2'x2' enclosure with no loose substrate. There has been a huge cricket shortage and a bug shortage in general here and dubia roaches are now illegal in Florida for some reason so the only bug I could get him was mealworms, which isn't the best for a juvenile. I fed him veggies, such as collared greens and green beans and occasionally some other things like carrots and such. I would also dust his food in calcium with D3 vitamin. He has a reptisun 10.0 UVB light and one 150watt heat/uva light that stays above the screen lid and another 100watt heat/uva light that is equipped under the screen lid. He has some hides and he would also go under the hammock in the corner for shade. For the past couple days he has been wobbly and had a hard time seeing and catching his food. He would still act alert and look around at everything with excitement though, but then again he just turned over on his back, suffocated, and now appears totally lifeless. I first got him from petsmart back in March and he has always showed signs of health problems since day 1. I'm pretty sad about it and he was my only pet. I would like to know if there was anything better I could've done because I would like to get another beardie and not mess up. Thanks Any advice is appreciated.
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I am sorry for your lost friend. Always look at the eyes. Open and bright or say goodbye. Also A major possibility of death could be the sand. Compacts in the bowels and they die.

 

[thujone]

Sorry to hear that. I got my dragon from PetSmart, and he had some issues when he was very young and PetSmart let me bring him in and were totally good about getting him back to health for free. Granted, some PetSmarts are better than others. It seems like you were doing all the right things, except maybe you could have brought him to a vet sooner. I feed my dragon mostly superworms, and I get them delivered in the mail through Amazon. Mealworms are totally fine, I think, as long as you rotate them with other bugs.

 

[BeardiesForever45]

I am very sorry. Petsmart unfortunately does not have the best quality dragons. Try buying from a breeder, a rescue, or a local reptile store. You did nothing wrong. Please do not be hard on yourself for his death

 

[Lily.arthur.help.needed]

Hey, I have a 7 month old bearded dragon and when I came home today I found him lying on his back. He is not breathing at all and when I picked him up he was stiff and limp. I think he died but I don't know what caused it exactly. He has a 4'x2'x2' enclosure with no loose substrate. There has been a huge cricket shortage and a bug shortage in general here and dubia roaches are now illegal in Florida for some reason so the only bug I could get him was mealworms, which isn't the best for a juvenile. I fed him veggies, such as collared greens and green beans and occasionally some other things like carrots and such. I would also dust his food in calcium with D3 vitamin. He has a reptisun 10.0 UVB light and one 150watt heat/uva light that stays above the screen lid and another 100watt heat/uva light that is equipped under the screen lid. He has some hides and he would also go under the hammock in the corner for shade. For the past couple days he has been wobbly and had a hard time seeing and catching his food. He would still act alert and look around at everything with excitement though, but then again he just turned over on his back, suffocated, and now appears totally lifeless. I first got him from petsmart back in March and he has always showed signs of health problems since day 1. I'm pretty sad about it and he was my only pet. I would like to know if there was anything better I could've done because I would like to get another beardie and not mess up. Thanks Any advice is appreciated.
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Hiya,
I am sorry about your beardie xxx
Did you give him calcium dust sprinkled on his food a few times a week? Bearded dragons need calcium as part of their diet and will sadly get metabolic bone disease without it. Some signs your beardie had it are lack of appetite, depression, legarthy, tiredness, deformed limbs, and swollen limbs/jaw. I hope this isnt what your beardie had as as you can imagine it is painful. Your beardie however looked healthy in the picture and I doubt it was this. I am sure you haven't done anything wrong to cause his death.
Xx