female water dragon

Question
hi i had a female (flower) water dragon living with my male she was a little younger than my male(coco. she was swimming and eating well my male always protected her. she was stayin near the ground though and then when i went to check her found thatshe had passed away. has anyone got any idea what this could have been. am i best of gettin my male checked? he still seems very healthy and is very active eating well basking sleeping ect thanks  

Answer
Hi Stacey,
I am very sorry for your loss.  You don't mention the age of your female.  If she was old enough, she may have been egg bound. This can happen when they aren't given the proper uvb lighting and calcium supplementation while forming eggs. Staying near the ground could be searching for a place to lay eggs.  All of the above of course depends on her age.
With her staying near the ground, it may have been that what you thought was protecting her, was actually the male being alpha over her..not allowing her to bask or eat.  Staying near the ground can be a sign of illness also.  
I would take the female in to be tested(necropsy) to see what crops up on that.  Then, if its proven that it was actually a disease, I would have the male tested.
A good link for water dragon care can be found at http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/ although her uvb lighting info is a bit outdated.  If you need more information on lighting, please let me know.
Again, I am very sorry for your loss.