Beardie diet?

[dechainechel]

Anyone ever put their beardies on a diet? My girl Phoenix is a major pudge, and the vet is worried about her health, because of it. She suggested only feeding her every other day,(salads/veg), and live food like once a week. Does this sound okay to you?
We decided to give it a try for 2 weeks, and now Phoenix won't touch her salad. She is about 14mths old and has been gradually eating more greens than live food, but now she seems to only want to hold out for her supers I'm at a loss.
Any suggestions on how to help your dragon get to a healthier weight, without hurting them in the process? Should we withhold supers until she starts eating her greens again? I feel like we've started over with her as a baby again The only thing I can get her to eat that isn't alive, is Butternut squash. She won't touch collards, turnip, dandilion greens...anything she used to love! I bet she's trying to make me crazy so I break down and give her the worms :roll: Brat!

 

[dechainechel]

Here is a picture of my chunky sweetie:

 

[VtFlash]

Iam new to this so most likly i will be telling you something you already know but have you tried going back to the baby stages of putting silk worms or phinix worms in her salad? What did your vet say is a healthy weight..just curious. Maybe iam wrong saying this but if she gets hungry enough she will eat...thou i understand how hard it maybe to see her not eat.

 

[lukenukem83]

WOW!!! That is one fatty beardie! it is absolutely beautiful! sorry i don't have any advice, but, like the others have said, just keep offering it and once the beardie gets hungry enough, it'll eat.

 

[dechainechel]

Thanks for the response, I gave it to people a few times myself. Phoenix hates silkies. She only eats supers, roaches, and the occasional hornworm. The vet said she was 542g. She gets lots of excercise, but she just keeps gaining! I don't want to starve her, what should I do?
My boyfriend/beardie daddy got mad at me for the pic I used. He said it made her look way fatter than she is... :roll: so:

Here she is from the side^

 

[Catalyst]

What was her diet before you tried cutting her back? How much live food was she eating?

I would be cautious with the squash because some vets are now cautioning that it's not as healthy for your dragon as originally beleived due to it's high starch content. Figures then that it's what she'll still eat for you

You could withhold live food until she starts to eat her salads again, a healthy dragon won't let herself starve although she will make sure you feel really bad about it :roll: She does look on the pudgy side and she could go a while without really seeing any consequences of a hunger strike. Another option would be to provide her with supers on a random schedule. I do this with my girl. Two nights a week she gets 10 - 15 superworms, and the nights are different each week. The thinking behind this is she's more likely to eat her salad when she can't depend on getting live food that night.

 

[MissT]

Abu has been on several diets but nothing seems to work - and as you have experienced, when I put her on a diet in the first place, she went back to being a baby, holding out for live food and ignoring her yummy veggies!!

Now, we reward her with live food.... for example, if she doesnt eat any salad, she gets no live food. If she eats a few mouthfuls throughout the day, she might get 1-2 supers/locusts. If she eats all of her salad, she gets 5 supers/locusts. (she doesnt get live food until late afternoon/early evening so she has plenty of time to stare at the salad). It seems to work and she never realy goes over the limit of 30 supers per week. She does, however, have the death glare down to perfection these days and makes me feel very guilty about the whole situation.

 

[sunkist]

Hmmm I think maybe just feeding the same but cutting back all together on the live stuff. So if you gave her 5 supers a day, give her 2. It's all about qauntity just like when we eat. She will get hungry and she will eat her salads or else she will loose weight.

 

[dechainechel]

Thanks for all the great ideas, very helpful. Her diet has consisted of greens and squash, w/ the occassional carrot shreds, and peas in the morning, and every other day we have been feeding her about 6 supers. She was getting between 18-24 supers per week, w/the occasional 3-4 roaches thrown in as a treat. This last week she's only had about 12 supers and 2 roaches, and about ten bites of her greens, and all of her squash...figures it may not be great for her. :roll:
I think I'm going to put her on an all green, (collard, turnip, and mustard), diet until she starts eating them. Than I'll try the reward system. :? If that doesn't work... :?:
Wish me luck!