Overweight adult

[felixandfideaux]

I have a 20 month old adult female, and I am pretty sure she is getting overweight. Her belly almost drags. She was getting 10-20 crickets a day, with veggies. She would not eat her veggies at all until recently, so I didn't cut back out of fear she wouldn't get her vitamins. Now she is eating her veggies daily.

I have cut back over the last two weeks to 10 a day, then 10 and 5 every other day. Crickets are 3/4 to 1 inch. I don't want her to starve out. I know she should get some crickets but about how many should she be getting when she does get her insect meal? Some sites say every day and others a couple times a week which is not helpful at all. I am thinking 5 every day. Is that too few? Or do I have to wait and see?

If I let her eat crickets until she is full, it would probably be 50 or until she exploded.

I hand feed her. She is not big on chasing them down, and I hate dismantling her whole set up to find escaped crickets. She will chase the Superworms. She gets 2-3 of those rarely. Any more and she stops pooping for several days.

 

[Cat93]

For an adult 30-50 crickets per week is what you should aim for. You can split that up however you like, a few a day, or more every other day. It really comes down to what works for you and your dragon. Keep offering her fresh veggies everyday, no need to worry about her starving, some beardies are just brats when it comes to greens and a bit of tough love is necessary but they will give in and eat them long before they starve. It is very important at her age though that her diet consist of 80% greens/veggies 20% protein to avoid health complications later in life.

 

[Tonja]

At about a year old they should revert to 80% greens/veggies to 20% protein. What I do for Emily at 2 is feed her a few crickets or superworms in the am so she gets her supplements <calcium 3 x a week and multivitamin 2 x a week only with her morning feeding>. The other feedings she will get her salads. On average per week she will get 40-50 either supers and crickets or just crickets. I have to hand feed her every day cause she cant eat on her own due to a birth defect in her mouth that allows food to escape her mouth. With her I don't mind hand feeding at all and I know what she gets. Emily is 19 inches long and 600 grams and can hold herself up and her belly doesn't drag or touch the ground. As long as yours is healthy, get the proper ratio of greens to protein, is able to get around well without her belly touching and can hold her self up, I wouldn't worry to much. If overly concerned about her weight, you can have a reptile vet take a look at her to make sure nothing else is going on. Both of mine see the vet religiously every 6 months for fecals and well checkup.

 

[felixandfideaux]

Thanks for the input. I am skeptical as to whether or not she can hold herself up. It seems to be an effort when she does. So 5-7 a day should keep her in good shape. I personally do better with a schedule.

 

[Cat93]

She looks healthy in my opinion 5-7 a day should be perfect, they do better with a schedule/routine as well so thats great too.

 

[Taterbug]

Does she get out of her tank for exercise often?

 

[felixandfideaux]

I try to get her out a couple of days a week. She runs around some, but mostly she wants to get to a window and look outside. She does not like actually going outside, which we are working on. She seems to be a bit of a suburban lizard. In fact,we experienced the "lizard brain" in action on one of her outings. I am going to write about that experience in "general" or "behavior" topic. The one labeled "cute things our beardies do."

Her tank is a 40 gallon breeder. I have changed the set up a little to make her hide bigger and give her more floor space. She could probably use more, but our home can't handle a bigger footprint unless she goes into another room that no one really uses. I don't want her be become "forgotten." Plus my kid likes her in his room.

I do check Craig's list for reptile enclosures and tanks. She really likes her aquarium. Her spot, her stuff.