Gracie is dead

My gorgeous male red tegu Gracie is gone. I came home to find him under the basking bulb dead. No, I don't know what happened. He's been agitated ever since the theft of Noah when someone broke into the outdoor pen. But there was no sign that anything was wrong, and now he's dead.
I'm really devestated and upset, my cousin died yesterday, my AC blew out yesterday, and now my pet is gone. Noah is still missing, and I can't even get Animal Control to return my calls, and life just sucks right now.

oh hun.... Im so very sorry......

*hugs* Such sad news..... Why does this kind of stuff all have to happen at once?

Theresa.. OMG

I don't even know what to say. Nothing any of us say will help. Just know that our hearts go out to you .

How is Groo Handling this?

Much love to you Theresa

*hugs*

If there is any way I can help, just let me know sweetie

Groo was upset earlier, and now has gone to sleep.

Given the recent events, are you suspecting foul play?

Originally Posted by Miss Tuniwha

Theresa.. OMG

I don't even know what to say. Nothing any of us say will help. Just know that our hearts go out to you .
Much love to you Theresa
*hugs*
If there is any way I can help, just let me know sweetie

I couldn't have said it any better....truly sorry Theresa.

I am sorry for your loss(es).

Jeesh, Theresa, that really sucks. I wish I had something more profound to say than "That sucks" but that's about it.

I spoke with both UF and the State diagnostics lab. Both said the freezing probably destroyed any chance to see anything. The UF lab now charges a minimum of $450 for a gross necropsy. The state places starts at only $50.
After pricing shipping(shipyourreptiles) I then called back to the state facilty and talked to one of the actual doctors. He basically said that they wouldn't be able to tell much, but if I wanted to send the body I could. Checking their TOS stuff, they are allowed to just incinerate the body and say "Sorry, the body was frozen" and do nothing more.

So I'm thinking it over right now. I don't know that I want to bother sending Gracie's body off($30) to pay for them to just incinerate him($50). It's also a personal thing, that if they are just going to dispose of the body, I think I'd prefer to "dispose" of him myself in a way that I feel is better and more appropriate than chucking him into a incinerator.
Before anyone else asks, I did have to freeze him. Since my AC blew out on friday, my friedge(not the greatest) would not keep him "fresh" and I had to put him into the freezer. I knew at the time that it might skew any results I might be able to get, but the detrioration would have happened as well in the refridgerator, since he had the misfortune to die on early saturday, which is inconvienant to the offices that can examine him.
Grrr.

They can't look for chemicals? Presuming it was poisoned, does freezing still ruin results for that?

For people that are reading this and aren't aware, freezing destroys tissues in many of the organs rendering them useless in a necropsy.

It is absolutely vital that if you suspect IBD, that you DO NOT freeze the body as this will ruin any ability to find inclusion bodies.