Dead Beardie Questions?

[Kristy86]

Hi all,

One of the people to get one of my hatchies this season phoned today to say they had found the little one dead at lunch today, he was on his back when they found him. He had eaten a woody and some salad this morning and was running around. He has been eating and active up untill now, he was in roughly a 2x1x1 enclosure with a 2foot uv tube, he had a heat rock, substrate was newspaper and recently they swaped to in door outdoor carpet. They had seen him shaking his head last night for a few min, but then he was fine, a few days ago they also said one of his legs didn't look like it was working, but after a few min it came good again. He has been eating mixed salad and woodies, they also have an open top so he was chasing and catching anything that flew in,

anyway i am a bit confused as to what could have caused it, i though impaction but if he was still running and eating, and pooing to all accounts, maybe MBD not enough calcium? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!!

 

[noah07]

im no expert but i have been told a heat mat or rock isnt good for them they need heat on their back and with the open top maybe the ambient temp wasnt hot enough they need a basking spot of 35-40 degrees. maybe this contributed....

 

[andyh]

maybe ate a poisoned bug?

 

[Tegstep]

Where are they? The best bet is to get him to the nearest herp vet and perform a post mortem examination. The body will start breaking down straight away but its amazing some of the things this can reveal.

 

[Kristy86]

its still been pretty warm up here, and the rock was hot enough but i am not a fan of them by any means! unfortunately i think it was buried before an autopys could be done

 

[JAS101]

its still been pretty warm up here, and the rock was hot enough but i am not a fan of them by any means! unfortunately i think it was buried before an autopys could be done

how warm is pretty warm ? . did they have a basking light and that or just a heat rock, what was the hot spot area temp?.

 

[evozz]

I have no idea about lizards but the first thing that came to my mind was that a poisoned (bug sprayed) insect flew in as it was dying and it ate it? Or maybe something poisonous crawled in and he ate it?

 

[goneself]

Yep, my first thought at having an open topped enclosure with vegies and fruit is wasp..hornets and beadies don't mix. But then the leg thing would suggest something dietary..

 

[Jamisgec]

Sounds like impaction. Head shaking and legs not working. Ask them the size of the woodies and veggies they have been feeding.

But the head shaking may be poisioning too.