Bearded Dragon can't lose weight

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Squiggle

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Hi, I adopted my bearded dragon from a rescue center a few years ago, and we were told at the time shes a bit of a fussy eater, but since I've had her I have tried to give her veg, always put out leaves and fruit/various bearded dragon pellets for her but she never touches it and always goes for the locusts, since she's been in our care she has put on a lot of weight and we didn't really notice it over time, but it's come to the point where she is very overweight and I can't seem to get her to loose it.

I feel the root of the problem is that she never touches greens, and consequently for the past month or so I've taken her locusts away and tried to make her eat greens by various ways suggested online, but she doesn't touch them. She hasn't lost any weight (that I can tell) despite more frequent exercise, aka, bathing and being let out of the viv, but since I'm in student accommodation and only have one room for her to run about it, she always just runs back to the vivarium.

I've ordered some more locusts since she's been acting a lot more tired recently and I'm scared for her health since she hasn't been eating anything. She'd rather starve then eat greens. Any advice? she has a very unhealthy diet, but I can't get her to change it. I tried putting leaves in front of locusts when she was eating them so she'd accidentally eat some, but she's caught onto that now and won't go for the locust if i'm holding any veg :/ I had cut down her locust intake for the past few months prior to taking them away, to about 10-15 a week, but she is still obese.

She is about (not sure of her true age as got her at a rescue center)12 and around 750g. I imagine she has liver issues etc, but i can't give her any milk thistle etc cos she actively refuses to eat anything other then locusts

103457-9298222670.jpg

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm at a loss of what to do! Thank you for your time :)
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
How many and what size locusts are you letting her eat and how often ?

She's pancaking under her basking globe in the photo, so will look fatter than she really is.

Do you have a photo of her when she's not pancaking ?
 

Squiggle

Member
Original Poster
kingofnobbys":2iyteqok said:
How many and what size locusts are you letting her eat and how often ?

She's pancaking under her basking globe in the photo, so will look fatter than she really is.

Do you have a photo of her when she's not pancaking ?
Hi!
I haven't been feeding her many, around 10-15 large locusts a week is what I've been giving her for the last few months, should I switch it up to smaller locusts or not feed her as much?
Hope these pictures are clearer, although more wondering what I should do in terms of trying to get her to eat greens

103457-4491017903.jpg

103457-3088145731.jpg

Thank you for your response :)
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Your extra pics did not show up but she's definitely overweight. Did you say she may be 12 years old ? If so that's a good long life so far. Just feed the greens to the locusts and cut down on them, just one a day of the large or 2 of the small.
 

Squiggle

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":2u21k7y4 said:
Your extra pics did not show up but she's definitely overweight. Did you say she may be 12 years old ? If so that's a good long life so far. Just feed the greens to the locusts and cut down on them, just one a day of the large or 2 of the small.

Hi, sorry for the pictures, new so not sure how to do the images, think I have updated them correctly now though. Yes, I believe she is, although I don't know her precise age. I shall cut down on the locusts, but have done for the past few weeks but noticed no difference. So also just give up on trying to get her to eat greens and hope the locusts are enough?

Thank you for your response!
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
She's extremely stocky, overweight but not obese. Just keep offering the greens a few times a week. You can't MAKE her eat them but at least have them available. If you gut load the locusts [ feed them the greens ] then at least she'll get the extra nutrients as the locusts are full of the salad themselves. Every now + then skip an entire day or 2 of live food + just wave the greens in her face when she's expecting a locust.


Once they are a certain size + age it's very hard for them to lose weight so don't focus on it too much. Just do these small changes _+ let her roam around as you do. Maybe out up a cat perch for her to climb when she's out of the tank for extra exercise.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Large locusts are about 2" - 2.5" inches long ( not sure how much they weigh gut loaded)
https://www.reptilecentre.com/xl-locusts-3550mm--15-pack_p4001019.htm
cf
large crickets are 1" long full grown.
So just on size , a large locust is probably equivalent to 3 - 4 large crickets.

I think maybe change over to roaches or crickets as her staple feeders and if crickets , same number of crickets per feed as she's accustomed to, wont hurt to have her miss a day of feeding once a week.

I think she'll do better on crickets to roaches.

I'd be gradually moving her onto a diet based on this viewtopic.php?f=18&t=236074
 

Squiggle

Member
Original Poster
Thank you both for your replies! I shall try feeding more variety of greens to the locusts then to ensure she gets a good balance of food through them and try to move onto crickets if you think they will be better for her. But I've tried giving her greens daily and showing them to her but it's not made much difference

Thank you both so much for your replies though, I will make changes based on your suggestions :)
 
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