Is she overweight? does she need to join weight watchers?!?

[catUK]

Hi my beardie is about 15 months old. I measured and weighed her and she is 18inches long and 520g I feed her everyday about 7 superworms and a few locusts per day- some days she will eat them all, others few or none. I am wondering if i am overfeeding her as she is putting on weight quite rapidly. In 1 month she has gained 60g and grew an inch- before this she stopped growing in march till june but was putting on weight (she was 17in 460g in march) I don't think she has eggs as i can't feel any and she is not digging or acting unusual (perhaps a little bit lazier than usual whilst in her viv). I have tried everything to get her to eat salad to no avail sometimes it looks disturbed but not sure if she's just walked in it. Should i start feeding her less often and does she need to lose weight? here's some pics of my lovely beached whale :shock: N.B. when she stands up straight her belly doesn't drag- she wouldn't stand up for me in these pics;

Thanks for any input

 

[Beardednoob]

She is a big girl LOL, I think the females tend to be more stout body wise. She looks healthy but, not too healthy imo

 

[catUK]

She is a big girl LOL, I think the females tend to be more stout body wise. She looks healthy but, not too healthy imo

thanks for the reply...'not too healthy' so do you think she needs to diet?

(p.s. sorry to hear about pulma, hope your doing ok)

 

[Beardednoob]

She is a big girl LOL, I think the females tend to be more stout body wise. She looks healthy but, not too healthy imo

thanks for the reply...'not too healthy' so do you think she needs to diet?

(p.s. sorry to hear about pulma, hope your doing ok)

What I mean by "but, not too healthy" is not overweight to the point I would worry. Sorry this may be a misuse of the word but, I insure your it intentional.

 

[catUK]

cheers, read your reply after i'd posted again and realised thats what you might have meant. There's no winning with her, i worry about her lack of eating, then i worry about her weight Never smooth sailing. She's just got over pnemonia so i was glad she was eating properly again but now not so glad about her turning into a chunk :roll:

 

[Gail]

She is a bit over weight but not near as fat as some dragons I've seen on here. If you are going to continue feeding bugs everyday, I would look into a lower fat option. The best thing would be to get her on greens though, she is plenty healthy enough to do "tough love"

 

[catUK]

She is a bit over weight but not near as fat as some dragons I've seen on here. If you are going to continue feeding bugs everyday, I would look into a lower fat option. The best thing would be to get her on greens though, she is plenty healthy enough to do "tough love"

Thanks. She's really picky and will only eat the locusts and supers (morios)- she won't touch crickets, silkworms, calci worms etc. I can't get much else here in UK. I will try the tough love thing- i did try to a couple of weeks ago but gave in after 3 days :roll: - felt sorry for her. plus with her just recovering from pnemonia i was a bit dubious about not feeding her. She did used to eat greens when she was about 7-8 months, but only when i wasn't watching...not sure if she still does that but sometimes they look untouched, its driving me crazy...even went so far as to mush up a worm into the salad

What would you suggest for low fat options?
Would it be better if i fed her the worms one day, missed a day, fed locusts, missed a day....would that be enough? (after i've tried the tough love). It never seems to get any easier with these pets lol.

Thanks for the advice Gail

 

[Gail]

Tough love takes a lot more then 3 days, I've heard of some dragons holding out for 2 weeks. They are stubborn, much like small children who will happily go hungry if they know mom will cave and let them eat cake instead of something healthy.
Locust are better then supers at this point, they have less fat. If she was mine, I would stop with supers altogether since she seems to be one of those dragons who gains weight even when only getting a few. Once she starts eating greens, she only needs 5 locust a day or so.

 

[catUK]

Tough love takes a lot more then 3 days, I've heard of some dragons holding out for 2 weeks. They are stubborn, much like small children who will happily go hungry if they know mom will cave and let them eat cake instead of something healthy.
Locust are better then supers at this point, they have less fat. If she was mine, I would stop with supers altogether since she seems to be one of those dragons who gains weight even when only getting a few. Once she starts eating greens, she only needs 5 locust a day or so.

:lol: i did have the intention of giving the correct timeframe for tough love but i was too soft with her and i gave in WAY too early! I'll stop the supers- i started her on them when she went off locusts but at the moment she seems to like locusts better. Its mad how her weight keeps going up- even when she went through a period of hardly eating she still put on weight. No more spoiling her from now on....tough love it is (it'll probably be harder for me than for her) Thanks for your help

 

[NightmareDisco]

Ugh, Nemesis is the same size, same weight and I think she's too fat. Their picky attitudes don't help

 

[lauraj1055]

I agree with Gail.. Tough love. I have to do the same with mine right now and it sucks. But I have the opposite problem. Mine won't eat. He waits for me to make him veggie slurries and syringe feed him. If I don't do that, he will just not eat and lose weight. I even have to feed wax worms so he doesn't get skinny.. These beardies love to keep us on our toes.

 

[Terminator7777]

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[catUK]

They love to be awkward and cause us worry lol

Thanks everyone for the replies and

Now thats a big gurl lol cutie built very well.

thanks :lol:

 

[Terminator7777]

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[SamusTheDragon]

Aww yes she does look a bit heavy but shes so cute :love5: