# Sudden death of blue tongue



## Xandrax (Nov 24, 2013)

Hi guys,

Today we made the terrible discovery that our two year old blue tongue had died some time in the last 24 hours. The last time we saw him he was happy and healthy, eating well and running around in his large outdoor pen that he shared with a bearded dragon. They'd been happily living together since he was about 6 months old and the dragon was 18 months old. The pen is about 15 square metres.

The only clue to his death was a bite mark on his tail which looks like it could have been from the beardie (it's a triangular crushing type bite). This happened in the last 24 hours and he's already dead. We are struggling to understand and didn't think anything like that could be fatal so quickly. Could this be the bearded dragon 'venom gland' that I've read about, or salmonella? The beardie had never bitten anyone or anything before.

We'd like to know both for our peace of mind and also so that we can think about housing any future lizards with the beardie. The internet only mentions beardies biting humans and dragons, not other species. Any ideas?


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## MesseNoire (Nov 24, 2013)

What did it's diet consist of?
How hot did it get in those 24 hours? Anywhere in your enclosure to shelter? 
Is fresh water available?
Have you sprayed for insects or weeds recently?


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## Grogshla (Nov 24, 2013)

it could have been natural causes, it could have been a husbandry issue or it may have been from something else. It's hard to pin point but I am very sorry for your loss. Hope things get better soon.


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## Xandrax (Nov 24, 2013)

Fractal_man said:


> What did it's diet consist of?
> How hot did it get in those 24 hours? Anywhere in your enclosure to shelter?
> Is fresh water available?
> Have you sprayed for insects or weeds recently?



Nothing changed in the last while. 

Diet was pretty varied, there are tomatoes and daisy flowers growing in the enclosure, plus we throw in crickets and superworms every few days, and any other kitchen scraps that they eat. The occasional egg but not lately.

There are numerous logs and shrubs in the enclosure and half of it is under shadecloth in summer.

There's a birdbath style dish of water which was a few days old but we've been having showers and storms in brisbane over the last couple weeks so I don't think he would have drunk from that anyway. In fact I never saw him drink from the dish ever, he preferred to lap up water when I hosed him or it rained.

It has been humid lately, around 30 degrees but that's Brisbane for you and as above there was plenty of shade.

We never use any pesticides.

I'm worried that the beardie might be sick because as I said he's never bitten anyone before and he's acting more shy than usual, and not eating superworms even though it's hot. But he's never been a good eater and he's always been shy so it's really hard to tell...

- - - Updated - - -

Just to close this one out;

We took the dragon to a reptile vet who advised that the bite was not likely to be the cause of death. He said the gut and mouth bacteria in reptiles is quite volatile and can sometimes get out of balance. When this happens an abscess can form inside the mouth, and if that bursts it can quickly be fatal.

He didn't seem to think any husbandry aspects caused the imbalance, sometimes these things just happen and there is no warning.

So it's not a definite reason but it's plausible enough. At least now I'd be more comfortable with getting another lizard since I know the dragon is okay.


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