Bloated or just fat?

[Carmen315160]

My female juvenile beardie is suddenly bloated looking. She is not impacted though. She poops at least twice every other day. And always looks fine colored and happy. Not sure why she looks so fat though. I feed her four meals a day. Breakfast is crickets. Lunch is super worms/mealworms. And dinner is kale and SOMETIMES Dubia roaches.

 

[Carmen315160]

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/21900/full

 

[KarrieRee]

I would add variety to the salads -- http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder
I would lay off the super / meal for lunch -- she may be hooked on all the worms now -- but you want her eating more salads than the worms about a year they only need insects 2-3 times per week and the worms should be fed as treats
Karrie

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Your girl looks very good, she appears healthy & of good weight.
As suggested, you can still feed insects since she is a juvenile but be mindful of too many
worms so she doesn't lay down too much fat at an early age. You can try some silkworms or
hornworms for a lower fat alternative she would most likely enjoy as well.
Keeping her on greens & veggies would be a good idea so she keeps them in her diet as an
adult.

Tracie

 

[wendysn63]

Hello all,
We have an 8 month old beardie (Hermes) and he has been looking bloated. Same scenario here. He poops regularly. It appears to be healthy. There were a couple of times he only deposited urate which was strange and really runny but, hasn't done that for awhile. Our attention was on our Atlas who passed a little while ago and we were so worried about Atlas at the time I hadn't taken a close enough notice to how fat/bloated Hermes was starting to look. His diet is dubias, hornworms every other week and until the time Atlas' health started to spiral downwards Hermes hasn't been as aggressive with his salad as he used to. Not sure why? Any ideas? Our hearts certainly couldn't handle another loss.

 

[KarrieRee]

Can you post a pic of him please -- and lighting is extremely important- what are you using for a UVB? Brand and bulb please --- NO coils - basking temps? how are you taking them and what are they?

 

[wendysn63]

 

[wendysn63]

This is Hermes. He is 8 months old now. He misses Atlas still. Anyway, we have followed Karriree's lighting instruction ever since we have been adopting Frillies and beardies. We never use coils or colored lights anymore. I have a very expensive probe to monitor temperatures. We live in Utah so my biggest concern is keeping the humidity consistent, especially for the Frillies. Any ideas? We are making Dr. appointments for all the kids especially since we lost Atlas.

 

[KarrieRee]

Frilles I cant help w/ but Hermes are you using a digital probe hygrometer? If so the probe place on the back center wall--- optimal humidity is 30-5-% percent - you dont want it under 20 and over 70% - someone else will haft to help out w / the frilles

 

[wendysn63]

Okay then I am going to get some hygrometers like you have mentioned. That right now is my only downfall. And I don't want to beat myself up anymore if we lose another baby. So do you think Hermes is in need of attention?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I would try to keep track of the humidity, yes, that is always nice to know the level anyway.
Hermes looks nice & healthy, & happy! I love his nice natural coloring, too.
What is his weight, he looks fine but at his age, you could probably start to gear him more
towards a little less insect protein to vegetation just so he doesn't get too heavy. He will
continue to grow in length & will fill out well into his second year.
I am glad to hear you have his lighting all sorted out too! Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[wendysn63]

Thank you, I believe the last we weighed him was about two weeks ago shortly after Atlas passed and I think it was somewhere around 13oz.