Well, I woke up yesterday morning and checked on the gang as usual, and found something very sad. My big female blizzard was upside down, flat on her back, and had died within hours of me finding her. I know this because it was about 10pm when I fed that group and she was fine, and it was about 7:30am when I found her.
The odd thing to me was that she was flat on her back upside down. I have never seen this in leos before. And she was in an area that had no places for her to fall over. She showed no signs of being gravid/egg bound, no fights with the blazing bliz female or the male in the cage, weighed over 70 grams, ate like a horse, no shedding issues ever, solid stools, no possibility of impactions...I just don't get it. Has anyone ever seen this? It was like she just rolled over and went to sleep.
Not knowing, my daughter put her in the freezer instead of the fridge, so a necropsy is out of the question now according to my vet. But I sterilized the entire cage, changed all humid hide material (I use coconut fiber in the humid hide/lay box), bleached the hell out of the tiles, all bowls, etc. The male and the other female are doing fine, so I don't think it was anything contagious...
So RIP Blaze, you will be missed. This is the first non-rescue case I have ever lost, so it is really upsetting to me...

Sorry for your loss...

Sorry to hear that Kelly. Things like this happen and we never know why... Here's hoping its nothing contagious for the rest of your little guys.

And no, I have never heard of a leo doing that before....

Oh damn, Kelly, I hate when things like that happen. Sorry, for your loss. I hope it turns out to just be a fluke and no one else has any problems.

sorry for your loss

The only thought on it that I have that changed for any of my guys was that I got some crickets as a treat (they are usually on a mealworm diet), and she ate a few of those. But everyone else, dragons included, seem fine. I am watching them all like a HAWK right now, because if I lose one more animal, I am contacting the guy I got the crickets from. I can't think of any other reason she would have died without warning. I mean on Saturday night she was coming after my hand like crazy when I was feeding, which was pretty normal for her (she wasn't the nicest little lady).
Thanks for the condolences. I am off to check the babies and other gang a bit more closely this morning...

Kelly, I'm truely sorry for your loss

Quig

I am so sorry for your loss

Really sorry Kelly

Sorry to hear that K it always sucks when we lose an animal.

I have had that happen three times since 1995 and that is with producing and keeping thousands of Leopard Geckos. I think just like in Humans sometimes they just die for no apparent reason. The one thing is it has always been Females never a Male. That leads me to believe it might have something to do with the reproductive system. I am very sorry for your loss. :(

Sorry to hear that Kelly. Hope the rest of the gang is tip top.

Ive lost lizards too no apparent reason. Never a snake, they usually give you some kind of warning. They stop eating, they shed bad, they lay weird, something. But Ive had a few lizards look/act just fine and then the next day belly up. Who knows. Maybe she had an internal problem that was impossible to detect. I really dont know, but it happens.

So sorry to hear about your loss Kelly :(

Sorry for your loss.

Thanks for the support guys. I have been checking the rest of the gang over and over to make sure everyone is good, and so far, no issues. I was worried it might be contaminated crickets or something, but it doesn't appear to be anything like that.
It is sad, her female cage mate BB is really looking like she knows something is different. They have been housed together since babies (I got them both at about 5 months old), and she just keeps looking for her. Although Blaze was the bigger girl, BB is the more aggressive one, and liked to make sure Blaze knew who was boss. I guess now since it is just BB and Sebastian in there, and Sebastian obviously taking control, she is wondering what happened.
People think that these little lizards don't have feelings or care about cage mates, but I can honestly say I don't think that is true. We had the same thing happen to our male uro when the female died (not MY lizards, but my daughter's, so it didn't effect me the same way), and since then, he has been mean as hell. I just hope that BB will get over it, because if she gets any more "people mean" I might have some serious issues with her!