Dead Dragon

[Nero]

Well for awhile my dragon was doing great. He didnt seem very healthy when i got him home from the pet store. After almost a week of constant caring he was running around for about 4 days doing what normal dragons should be doing. And a day ago he was acting the same again and this evening I gave him a bath and he was fine. And a few hours later he was dead. I dont know what I did wrong. I had the temp correct the lighting the water. I feel I simply failed as a herper. My other pets are doing great I wanna buy another dragon but maybe ill go with one thats older. This one was barely 4 inches when I got him. I am pretty depressed about this

 

[DZLife]

If you got him from an average pet store, chances are that he was already sick when you got him, as you described. One of the most common screw-ups by pet stores is the lack of proper UV lighting for bearded dragons. Another is inadequate heat. Even if conditions were perfect once you got him home, it may have been simply too late to save him.

 

[dorton]

Thats sad, I hate to hear that for you. Like DZ said, more than likely if you got it and it passed in that short of time, all you were able to do is make its last days of life enjoyable. It probably wouldn't of made it as long as it did if you wouldn't have gotten it.

 

[HazyRep]

Aw...I'm so sorry! :C

Definantly go for a larger one. I work at Petco (i know...bad me) and I HATE that the place that we get the bearded dragons from practically sends us hatchlings. They are just too sensitive and it's hard when I'm not there all the time to try and make sure they survive.

If you can, try to find a reptile expo, you're sure to find which ever age/size you want and for a price that is a ton more resonable than a pet store. Petco sales normal bearded dragons for 50 bucks! You can get a 4 month old for about 20 bucks at an expo. One that's healthy and been under good care (not my associates' or people that don't really care).

 

[MMRR - jif]

Better yet, find a rescue and adopt a Bearded Dragon. With the hundreds of backyard breeders out there now most reptile rescues have a dragon or two available. We have 7 dragons right now that are available for adoption, all between 8 months to 3 years old.

 

[Nero]

Thanks guys for all the positive replies. I'm doing better now, there really wasnt much I could do, all I did for 2 weeks was constant care I even called in sick for a week to care for him. It was a good learning experience but not one I would wanna go through again. Though I did just get another baby but hes a little larger and in great condition. Hes eating doesnt close his eyes, runs around, and hes a little squirmy. So this one I feel will work out the way it should!

 

[olympus]

The same thing happened to me when I bought an alligator from a reptile show, it sucked... I have pics in the reptile show category under "Look what I bought from the Hamburg PA reptile show"..