Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am writing today to seek help. I had a Bearded Dragon who I became quite attached to; I was using a product called “Lizard litter” made by ESU reptiles with a picture of a bearded dragoon on the package. My lizard became ill and in obvious distress which of course I then took him to our vet who diagnosed him as having an obstruction in his digestive system, after a two hundred dollar vet bill we were referred to a specialist. The specialist performed an endoscopy (An instrument for examining visually the interior of a bodily canal or a hollow organ such as the colon, bladder, or stomach.) and determined that my poor dragon had this “lizard litter” impacted in its colon. He then explained the course of action which was to sedate “baby” and in several stages try to clear the obstruction. “Baby” didn’t make it through the procedure. My question today is “Do I have any course of action?” All told the cost of my vet and the specialist was $550.00 plus the loss of my pet. The specialist is writing a letter to confirm the cause of death. Does anyone have similar experiences? Any suggestions on how to deal with this in an attempt to recover my monetary loss or at least having these people remove the picture of the bearded dragon from the package so this will not happen to anyone else? I am sorry for the long post but as you can see I am very upset. Thank you in advance for any advice you can provide.

Don't have any personal experience using lizard litter (is that the crushed walnut stuff?) however you can contact the company that makes it and ask for payment for the vet bills etc. You can contact the Better Business Bureau or just take the company that makes the Lizard Litter to small claims court. Or counsult a lawyer about what options you have.

Before doing anything legal, check the packaging for Lizard Litter for any warnings concerning impaction etc. If none are found, you will have a better case, if there are warnings, then the company covered themselves by having the warning and you may not win a case against them. As I don't have p ersonal experience about taking companies to court, can't give much more advice than this.

Sorry about your loss.
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PHLdyPayne

Thank you.

Yep it's the crushed walnut crap. Hey PH, you the only one left around here lol, saw matt post a couple pics of him and the baby but other than that it seems like a bunch of newbies leading newbies from the few posts I read through. Oh well, peace out, maybe I'll pop back later..

As for recourse you don't have any, or very little. That's how they get away with making this crap, and calcisand, vitasand, etc. They're big corporations that have access to much better lawyers than you and can tie it up in court forever. Best thing you can do is learn from your mistake, correct it and try to educate others on the dangers of particulate substrates.

Sean

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Heart Mountain Herps

This might come in handy, probably not but at least it serves as a good visual to all the people thinking ' I've kept my beardie on that with no problems ' ...

http://mrskingsbioweb.com/beardeddragngrossanatomy.htm

Gross Anatomy

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Heart Mountain Herps

first off sorry for your loss.

as far as this stuff and a lot of the other stuff on the market, its not really the best for them, esp. when they are young. like someone else said, they have the $ to tie you up in court for a long time, its sad that "he with the biggets pockets wins" and in the end the animals and the ones who love them get hurt. i see it every day, in herps, and in cats and dogs. hartz flea control kills many cats, puts hundreds into seizures, and yet its still for sell. sad really, you did what you could for your baby, i hope someday you try again, beardies are one of the most special herps you can have!
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!

Thank all of you for your help and concern. I will not just let this pass!