help! found one of my beardies dead, unexpected! what could be the cause :(

[amyyy]

Hi, I'm new on the board! I had 2 beardies, male aged 2, and female aged 3, both kept in a large terranium with everything in it; heatmat, UV light, heat lamp, water bowl, etc. We fed them the correct foods at the right times/intervals, locusts, mealworms and veg, the water bowl, and the tank are always kept clean, no dead insects or poo lying around! The beardies have always been happy, running round and always being loved, and last night they were both their usual selves. They both have a good appetite, although lately the female beardie has been eating nowhere near what she normally does, but she has been eating.

Then, when I woke up, the female beardie was lied in the terranium with her front legs out, her stomach underneath was going slightly inwards, her mouth a bit open, and her eyes half shut and a little glazy, at first i just thought she was half asleep or basking, so i picked her up thinking she might wake up and she was dead ):
She felt warm, but her eyes were all sunken and slighty opague on the skin around, her beard was very slightly black, and her mouth and tongue were really dry (no moisture there at all) I've no idea what's caused this! I'm really upset this was so unexpected  Any more info needed & I'll say!

[Dadx2mj]

I have to agree, the two things in your post that stand out is the fact that the dragons were housed together which is a very risky practice and the feeding of meal worms.

Dragons can get along for days, weeks, months, even ye3ars and then suddenly without warning they can turn very violent toward each other. Their fights can end with an injury or death of one of the dragons.

Meal worms are very high in chitin which makes them very hard to digest and can cause impaction. They also have a very poor phosphorous to calcium ratio making them not very nutritionally sound.

[amyyy]

A friend of my Mum's was going in the RAF and therefore wouldn't be there to look after the beardies so he gave them to us, he's housed them together since they were young & no problems, we have only had them a year but still both in good health, they never mated either.
Dolly very rarely eats mealworms as she prefers locusts, and they hadn't been fed any mealworms for about a week, so its unlikely it's impaction :/

[alewis0890]

actualy its not highly unlikley its impaction it doesnt take long for them to get impacted. id bet on the impaction as well.

[ladyknite]

housing male and female together creates an issue when it comes to the natural behaviors.  many do not attempt to mate, others mate repeatedly.
Considering their ages, I might wonder if unobserved mating had occured and created a problem with binding, or worse yet, with stasis.

I doubt impaction was an issue.  There are other visible signs prior to death of a bearded dragon.

[amyyy]

There wasn't really any signs or warnings that she wasn't well, as she was acting just as she always does, she was eating, not as much as usual though. I guess I'll never know what the cause was, I just hope my male beardie is okay now

[ladyknite]

I'd take him in for a fecal check and clean and sanitize your enclosure very well just as a precaution.

[reptilelvr]

also...please don't add another beardie to the enclosure. If you want to get a new one please look at getting another enclosure.

[beardielover17]

housing male and female together creates an issue when it comes to the natural behaviors.  many do not attempt to mate, others mate repeatedly.
Considering their ages, I might wonder if unobserved mating had occured and created a problem with binding, or worse yet, with stasis.

I doubt impaction was an issue.  There are other visible signs prior to death of a bearded dragon.

i have to agree with you on this...although mealworms arent a great food i doubt that was the cause

[Star-IV]

Hi, I'm new on the board! I had 2 beardies, male aged 2, and female aged 3, both kept in a large terranium with everything in it; heatmat, UV light, heat lamp, water bowl, etc. We fed them the correct foods at the right times/intervals, locusts, mealworms and veg, the water bowl, and the tank are always kept clean, no dead insects or poo lying around! The beardies have always been happy, running round and always being loved, and last night they were both their usual selves. They both have a good appetite, although lately the female beardie has been eating nowhere near what she normally does, but she has been eating.

There's actually a lot wrong here, and you should really check the caresheets here for future care of the surviving beardy. Heatmats are terrible for dragons, they can't sense heat on their stomach and can easily get burned by them. A water bowl shouldn't really be kept in there either, it creates too much humidity and dragons will sooner defecate in them then really use it, they should be bathed so they can get water via their vent. You also said UV light, which just for clarification I ask do you mean UVB light, because that could also an issue. Also I dunno about anyone else but I haven't personally heard of locusts for food, anyone else want to comment on that? Also how are you measuring the temps. in the cage, were you giving them supplements, and what kind of vegies do you feed them?