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RIP Roxy

badcompnay Jun 23, 2007 08:38 PM

Well, unfortunately my female beardie did not make it through the night. i tried to give her some Pedialyte but it just didnt work.

Luckily i work at an animal and one of the vets offered to do a necropsy. We opened her up and found a strange black mass under her liver, it was soft and mushy and fell apart at the slightest touch. her stomach and GI Tract were empty..completely.

Her gal-bladder was dark green...not a good sign either. And where her small intestine connected to the large, there was a black coloration or mass there. I took smaples of her Liver, Kidney, some blood, some cultures from her mouth, and i took her esophogas along with her heart and lungs as one piece.

If it was dehydration that caused her sudden death i honestly dont know why, i give them veggies everyday and i even take them out in the sun and give them water. ive tried to put a bowl of water in the tank, but all i ever get in it is sand and her walking all over it.

I would like to know, what everyone here does to ensure thier dragons are hydrated. I simply assumed they acquire thier water from the greens they eat. BDlvr, i wrote down your "menu" for greens and and fruits and have used most of them, mostly greens instead of fruits cuz they dont like them.

So please if anyone can tell me how it is that they keep thier dragons hydrated i would really appreciate it!

Anthony

Replies (6)

BDlvr Jun 23, 2007 08:51 PM

Funny. I just sent you a back channel email moments ago asking how thing turned out.

Well, I leave it up to a vet to say the cause of death. From your desciption I highly doubt it was dehydration.

I have water dishes in all my enclosures but I know they never use it for drinking. But it makes me feel better when I have to wash them every morning. lol.

For an attentive keeper hydration is really not a problem. If proper husbandry is practiced then there should be no problem.

If you want more specifics contact me directly as I don't want to create a discussion on this topic with others that may have strong opposing opinions.

BDlvr Jun 23, 2007 08:53 PM

I'm really sorry for your loss. Should've mentioned that first. Sorry.

Steve

niddy Jun 23, 2007 10:36 PM

Anthony I'm so very sorry for your loss!

~Hugs
Niddy

DanTheHam Jun 23, 2007 11:13 PM

I keep a water dish for my dragons as well. And they do drink, although not often.

Good luck,
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Indiana_Dan

PHLdyPayne Jun 25, 2007 12:25 AM

Sorry to hear your dragon died.

a black squishy mass could be alot of things, including cancer. Dark liver and gull bladder sounds like some sort of infection or disease. The lab work will be able to determine what is going on with these organs and what the squish mass is. It certainly sounds like something that may have been around for awhile.

Keep us posted on the lab results.
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PHLdyPayne

HappyHillbilly Jun 25, 2007 02:16 AM

I'm very sorry to hear that she didn't make it and I'm sorry that you have to deal with all the emotions that we keepers have to deal with once in awhile. Hang in there!

From what you described about the necropsy, it might not have been dehydration. Please update us ASAP.

Keep your chin up!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

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