Sudden Death in 0.1 V. Prasinus

[AndrewMolt]

I recently had an unexplainable death of one of my V. Prasinus. I can't find any answers or anything even close to my situation.

I purchased a proven pair of USCBB Merauke V. Prasinus from a breeder here in the U.S. This is a reliable breeder - tons of fantastic reviews, talked on the phone, held them for me while I built the enclosure, helped me along the way, etc. I built a 6Lx5Hx3D enclosure, with all sorts of branches, climbable walls, plants, etc. I received the animals Feb. 4th. and they were perfectly healthy. Within the day, they were both eating and exploring their enclosure. Fast-forward to one week ago, I noticed a lack of appetite, and presumed it to be developing follicles (follicle growth was later confirmed in autopsy) as I was told to expect this when she begins her breeding cycle. A few days after, I witnessed copulation between the two lizards numerous times. The female ate again, and both proceeded on normal behavior.

This past Friday, I checked on everyone as per usual, both lizards out basking and moving around perfectly fine, normal behaviors. This continued throughout the day, till about 3:30 PM when I noticed the female being suddenly lethargic and her eyes very cloudy (Looked like her inner eyelids were stuck over them, not certain if they were or not). Immediately I communicated with my breeder and scheduled an emergency vet visit for ASAP, which was the next morning. I took both lizards in just in case. The male received a clean bill of health. Female didn't get an exact diagnosis (Was told it seemed to be some type of infection), but was prescribed Fortaz and eye drops, and daily soaks. Injection, eye drops, and soaks began that day. By this point she was no longer moving on her own, and infrequently moving her tail and flicking her tongue. Later that night, she died. I had an autopsy performed this morning on her body, which I preserved, and absolutely nothing was found. I'm waiting on lab results.

Sorry for the essay. Has anyone ever heard of or experienced anything like this? The male is still seemingly perfectly healthy - no behavior difference.

 

[V675210]

so based on my experience with monitors , I find it kind of odd that within 1 week of you having them. The female got sick .seems to me she was already having issues before you got her. With monitors they hide their sickness really well.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

How did you determine this to be within one week of him having them?

so based on my experience with monitors , I find it kind of odd that within 1 week of you having them. The female got sick .seems to me she was already having issues before you got her. With monitors they hide their sickness really well.

 

[AndrewMolt]

I'd had them for nearly a month. Received Feb 4th, first sign of something wrong on Feb 28th, and dead Mar. 1st.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

I'd had them for nearly a month. Received Feb 4th, first sign of something wrong on Feb 28th, and dead Mar. 1st.

Yes, my question to the other poster was regarding the workings of his math.

As for you, I doubt you will find an assignable cause. Unfortunately, these things sometimes happen. A tiny yet key duct could have been blocked. A blood vessel feeding a vital area could have become blocked. There are various small-scale issues that would escape detection that are capable of large-scale misfortune. With enough volume of animals and experiences over enough years, infrequent mystery occurrences are almost bound to pop up. Sometimes with tragic consequences such as this one. I am sorry for your loss. I hope you remain steadfast in your pursuit of building your project and making it into a flourishing program.

I have experienced an animal of a different species that was thriving for many years lay down for a nap and then never rise again. No assignable cause. No gross issues. Zero findings of any kind. I would have to assume some kind of spontaneous cardiovascular failure or another similarly punctuated cause we could not determine. These kinds of things do happen and they are outlying poor luck for the animals and the keepers.

 

[AndrewMolt]

Unfortunately that seems to be the case. If I can find another Meruake locality CBB V. Prasinus, I'd certainly be willing to try again. Just don't have the motivation to do it right now after this, but I'm sure that it will return. Thanks!

 

[AndrewMolt]

For anyone still interested - lab results came back with chronic kidney failure basically. Resulted in clogged blood vessels and several other things - but all of it stems from the kidneys failing.

From their email:
"MICROSCOPIC: Kidney: The kidney has marked glomerular and interstitial fibrosis, and numerous tubules are dilated, lined by necrotic epithelium, or contain luminal accumulations of proteinaceous material or necrotic cellular debris or, in some areas, urates or discrete urate tophi. Blood vessels have intimomedial hypertrophy. Liver: The liver has marked diffuse hepatocellular lipidosis. Mesentery: Mesenteric blood vessels are mineralized. The following tissues are histologically within normal limits: lung, heart, stomach, and ovary.



MICROSCOPIC DIAGNOSIS: 1. Nephrosclerosis with renal gout.

2. Metastatic mineralization, mesenteric arteries.

3. Marked hepatic lipidosis.



COMMENT: The primary problem in this case is the renal lesion. The renal lesion is chronic suggesting that previous insults to the kidney may have expedited the degenerative changes and subsequent gout. Metabolic derangements associated with the renal lesion likely resulted in derangements in calcium metabolism and subsequent metastatic mineralization. The hepatic lipidosis is likely a secondary event associated with metabolic derangements due to the renal lesion. There is no evidence of an infectious process."