Sad news....

Hey. My sister had a bearded dragon for quite a while, probably a year or even two. She never cared for it, I came over to give it crickets on occasion, the tank was always littered with feces, and it baffles me how it managed to stay alive.
A week ago she gave it to my care. It was very anorexic, so I figured to bulk it up on mealworms, feeding about 5-10 mealworms a day. It was surprisingly healthy other than being thin. Today it is dead...this bothers me especially because I wonder, why did it just die? It lived all that time eating crickets once a week, not being cared for, and as I rescue it it dies. The only symptoms I saw is it turned kinda white....thanks :(

The problem is you used mealworms. Waxworms are better for bulking up, but mealworms MUST be fed prekilled. Their exoskeletons are too tough to be broken down by digestive enzymes, meaning your dragon was likely eaten from the inside out. Check for any small holes in his body, I'm sure you'll find some if you fed live mealworms.

-edit- Another killer may have been the lack of a UVA/UVB. Since dragons aren't nocturnal, they need proper lighting to survive.

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Originally Posted by ShamelessAardvark

The problem is you used mealworms. Waxworms are better for bulking up, but mealworms MUST be fed prekilled. Their exoskeletons are too tough to be broken down by digestive enzymes, meaning your dragon was likely eaten from the inside out. Check for any small holes in his body, I'm sure you'll find some if you fed live mealworms.

-edit- Another killer may have been the lack of a UVA/UVB. Since dragons aren't nocturnal, they need proper lighting to survive.

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Mealworms can't eat their way out of a stomach. Old wives tale that won't go away.
Now you are on to something with the exoskeleton being harder to digest though.
You have mixed both together in a way that makes no sense (besides the impossible eating out theory).
Could be UV, that is a solid theory.

OP: I am sorry to hear the little dragon died in your care, it could have been from the prior poor care. They are hardy little creatures but cannot endure improper care forever, he may have been too far gone when you took over.

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When you have an animal that has survived on very small amounts of food, throwing large amounts of protein at them shocks their system and causes their liver and kidney function to shut down. In the future if you ever take on a malnourished animal please don't just give them as much as they will eat. Their diet needs to be changed very gradually and new foods introduced slowly and in controlled amounts. Also, meal worms are particularly difficult to digest given the chitin in their exoskeletons. The phrase "killing with kindness" came about for a reason. I am terribly sorry for your loss, and I know that you thought you were doing the best thing for this animal. In rehabilitation, slow and steady wins the race and care must be taken to ensure that the animal does not cause harm to itself by over indulging in what it has been denied.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ShamelessAardvark

The problem is you used mealworms. Waxworms are better for bulking up, but mealworms MUST be fed prekilled. Their exoskeletons are too tough to be broken down by digestive enzymes, meaning your dragon was likely eaten from the inside out. Check for any small holes in his body, I'm sure you'll find some if you fed live mealworms.

-edit- Another killer may have been the lack of a UVA/UVB. Since dragons aren't nocturnal, they need proper lighting to survive.

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Sorry, but this is false information (mealworms eating their way out).
It is not true at all.

When I take in hermit crabs, they are often suffering from improper conditions over a long period of time. Sometimes, it just catches up with them and there's nothing you can really do to prevent it. The damage was done long ago. It can be nearly impossible to reverse the condition in a short period of time. It's a balancing act, and often hard to win.

Don't feel like it was your fault. Had it had good conditions to begin with, this never would've happened. Can't fix the past, and sometimes that is just too much. Even altering their environment and diet slowly isn't enough for them. Sometimes it isn't quick enough, but too quick does even more damage. There's no solution. Sometimes they go downhill immediately after the 'rescue', and sometimes months down the road.

You did the best you could, given the situation. Perhaps next time your sister brings up the topic of getting an animal, you can talk her out of it.

Chitin (exoskeleton) is more digestible than we first thought, up to 7x so.
I can find the article if anyone would like it.
I wouldn't feed mealworms or superworms strictly to baby or juvi beardies with a fear of impaction however. A good rounded diet is always best.