Bearded Dragons overweight?

[S123]

Hi, I have two bearded dragons around 18 months old, one male and one female. The male is 19inches long and 564g and the female is 16inches and 447g.

Do you think they sound overweight? (particularly the female)

 

[scalesandnails]

I feel that the female may be a little overweight but not much. They are full grown and should be around that size. I think the male is perfect and the female maybe just a little less protein and more salad.

 

[S123]

Thank you! That is a relief to hear, what do you think would be a good weight for the female? I'm fairly new to Beardies as I've only had them 3-4 months so still learning lots about them.

 

[melissaha]

I took my 4 year old male to the vet recently and he weighs almost 2 pounds, so about 900 grams, so I wouldnt worry about your beardies being overweight the vet said my guy is perfectly healthy!

 

[lauraj1055]

I only feed my adults bugs 2x a week. My females are all over 550 grams, the biggest being 630 grams and only 16". So I monitor their protein intake. They get 5 supers and 10 dubia 2x a week and greens every day.

Just make sure not to feed an adult protein daily. They should have greens every day, but like I said protein only 2 - 3x a week.

 

[Claudiusx]

Just make sure not to feed an adult protein daily. protein only 2 - 3x a week.

I disagree with this. I've always fed my adult dragons protein every day. Of course, they always eat their salad too. I just don't see a point in limiting the protein to 2-3 times a week.

But, it's likely not going to make or break your dragon either way. Just sharing my opinion and experience.

-Brandon

 

[S123]

I usually feed them insects daily, I used to give them 5 large morio worms a day but I've cut it down to 3 a day. Occasionally they'll get a Dubia roach or two chucked in with their meal but they're hard to get hold of here so they don't get these very often, and they get greens daily.

 

[Tonja]

Emily is 19 inches long and 578 grams and gaining, Geico was 18 inches and 688 grams. Both were very healthy, bloodwork was always in midline normal range for both no problems with liver or kidney function and I fed protein daily to them. Unfortunately I lost my 2 yr old male to something beyond anyones control. Now have Emmett and he is tiny, just a baby, and he will get protein for the rest of his life daily. Emily gets greens in the Am and protein for mid day and greens at dinner. Emmett gets mostly protein and some greens. I don't see why they should stop getting protein every day as long as they are healthy with a varied diet. Emily gets her 80% veggies and 20% protein, I just do it so its everyday. Waiting on a shipment of worms now for them, phoenix and silkworms along with a shipment of crickets. Geico loved hornworms but Emily would spit them out and Emmett is way to little for even a small hornworm so I don't order them. Variation I think is the key more so than what they get daily and ratio of what they get as per their age. MY opinion.

 

[S123]

Thank you Tonja, They get a good variety of greens and veg (sometimes fruit), they don't get much of a variety of insects though, I can only get hold of crickets, mealworms and morio worms. I can occasionally get hold of dubia roaches and phoenix worms but not very often as the pet shops rarely get them in. I've tried the beardies with crickets a few times and they won't eat them but they love morios and dubias.

I'll upload some pictures of them both tomorrow, Norbert looks alright but Saphy has a bit of a belly on her lol.

My main worry is they're not staying at the weight they're at, each week they just keep putting more on.

 

[lauraj1055]

Just make sure not to feed an adult protein daily. protein only 2 - 3x a week.

I disagree with this. I've always fed my adult dragons protein every day. Of course, they always eat their salad too. I just don't see a point in limiting the protein to 2-3 times a week.

But, it's likely not going to make or break your dragon either way. Just sharing my opinion and experience.

-Brandon

Adults do NOT need protein everyday. But if you are going to feed them protein everyday it should be in a limited quantity.

 

[Damieboo]

I don't think they were implying that beardies need the protein every day, just that they need something in their tummy other than greens every day. Kind of like how you can eat a salad and an apple but still feel hungry unless you eat something more filling. I feed my two beardies a mixture of giant mealworms, crickets and superworms(only for the adult) every day along with their greens and they're both average weight for their age. Damien would be irate with me if I only gave her greens haha.

But all beardies are different, some only want to eat greens, others will only eat bugs. So some owners do different things for their beloved pets!

 

[Tonja]

I even get a chicken breast, boil it till its done, Then I will take the center meat and chop it very finely and feed it to mine once in a great while just for something different. Like humans I feel animals can get bored with the same foods so a varied diet that is healthy and still within the ratio of protein to vegetation is there. I find nothing wrong in protein every day..I would get sick of greens all the time...I need my meat and potatoes also..therefore my animals get the same..a good varied diet DAILY

 

[Claudiusx]

Adults do NOT need protein everyday.

Well that is obvious based on your experience and others experiences. But just because they don't NEED it, doesn't mean it is going to hurt them.

I am sure you do a lot of things for your dragons that they don't NEED. So why is this different?

I agree with the two above, protein can be given every day. The only reason I am commenting directly to you, is with the way you are posting, you are making it seem that it is harmful to do so.

A varied diet is the key, and something that we have always recommended here.

-Brandon

 

[S123]

My main problem is getting them to stay at a steady weight, before I fed them five morio worms a day and now I'm feeding Norbert 3 a day and Saphy 2. I don't know if this is enough for them though? I'll upload a picture of them both later today, Norbert to me looks fine but Saphy I'm not so sure about.

 

[Damieboo]

Damien used to be a lumpy dragon till I let her be a free range lizard (long story, not allowed to have pets in apartment so I can't have her cage sitting out in the open) and now she runs all over the room and climbs things and she's lost a considerable amount of pudge even though I still feed her the same amount of protein. Sometimes if you can't get your beardie to exercise on their own, giving them a bath and encouraging them to try swimming is a good way to "burn calories". Most will start to splash around on their own after a few minutes soaking. I think this is a better alternative than limiting their food intake.