Holding onto a Dying Beardie

Drako just started his "death gasping." I thought he was dead this morning, but when I went back to take pictures of his body, I found that he was breathing! I was SHOCKED!! So I gave him a saline injection and put him under warm lights.

His breathing has been slow & steady all morning. I've been checking on him every 30 minutes all morning. And he just started his death gasps.

And so I have sweet Drako, wrapped in a clean towel, on my chest. I am talking to him and telling him to let go. I am loving him and wishing him happiness in the fields in heaven. I am telling him he is safe to die. I am assuring him he is loved.

No matter how bad his life may have been, his death was peaceful and filled with love. That is why I do rescue-- to be part of beardies' "Happily Ever Afters." Even when their "Happily Ever After" starts the moment they leave their frail bodies behind.

RIP, Drako.

One More Reason Why I HATE Sand -- Drako, rescue number 37

I woke up early this morning in anticipation of a sickly beardie being dropped off at 6 am. I had talked to his owner last night about Drako, and we decided that her husband would bring him to me if he was still alive this morning.

Drako in the bath last night

9 year old Drako spent the last few years of his life in a tank filled with sand and no UVB light. He was given to his current owner and slowly started to fail, growing skinnier and more lethargic. Finally last night, he passed a large blood clot.

This morning, he was breathing shallowly and his owner's husband brought him to me on his way to work. I put Drako in a sick tank to warm him up while I got a saline injection ready for him.

But I was too late. When I picked him up, I noticed blood on the paper towels in the tank and blood coming out of his vent. All I could do was wrap him in a clean washcloth and hold him gently.

I HATE SAND!

I've read the bags of calci-sand and repti-sand and I know the "experts" claim that sand is great for beardies, but I've seen too many die because of it. A beardie on sand will eventually swallow the sand and not all of it will pass through them. All it takes is a few grains of sand stuck in their bellies to start catching bits of digested food. Over time those bits of food and sand snowball into a bigger and impassable clump.

Drako's intestines were filled with clumps of sand and partially digested food and because of the clumps, he felt "full" so he stopped eating. Eventually, his body attempted to pass the clumps and when he did, the clumps ruptured his insides. He passed a blood clot last night and then continued bleeding internally.

Draco this morning 

Internal ruptures are not repairable. A small tear can sometimes be survivable, but in a dehydrated, emaciated 9 year old beardie even a small tear would have been catastrophic. And it was.

Drako is still barely alive. Because he's not willing to quit, I'm not willing to quit on him. I did give him a saline injection and now all that I can do is wait. He's in a nice warm tank, on soft, clean towels. His breathing is slow and steady, but he is largely unresponsive. I expect he will pass away, but until he actually does, I'm going to keep loving him and keeping him comfortable.

UPDATE-- 

Draco has now died. I held him in my arms as he gasped his last. Here is a picture of his vent with the blood coming out of it. His legs are discolored and his pores are enlarged-- all caused by being stuck on sand for years with improper lighting and heating.