Questions about weight

[Someplacedude]

My little rescue girl, Lemon, is about eight years old (according to her previous owner), and came to us looking very emaciated and malnourished, dehydrated, and pretty much unable to move around because of muscle atrophy and MBD. She was living in a too-small setup with repticarpet, a single hide that had been taken over by a roach colony, no basking light or heat source, a crappy coil UVB bulb that clearly wasn't cutting it (and who knows how old it was?). Fast forward 4 months and she's gaining weight after 3 rounds of antibiotics for a URI, and 2 rounds of antiparasite. She's also on pain meds for any chronic pain from MBD. Her MBD was partially resolved when we got her, her toes are still not really visible on an xray though. She'll never walk normal, but she has been much more active the last month or so. I got her sometime back in early September. She wasn't eating at all when we got her, barely able to move, and an xray revealed she had broken basically every bone in her body at least once. All this to say, the vet set a weight goal for her a month or so back, that she should get to 380g. She's almost there, which is great, but her ribs are still pretty darn visible, and her fat pads on her head are still pretty sunken, though they're not as bad as they once were. Mostly, we are worried about her weighing too much and producing eggs, because it would be very hard for her to lay without complications. I'm going back to the vet in a couple weeks, but I just wanted to get some people's opinions on if I should try to get the vet to reassess about the weight situation, since I am mainly focusing on her body condition rather than her weight.
At this point I'm kinda hoping my scale is just not all that accurate because of how skinny she still looks. I know beardies are often obese in captivity and we're very used to seeing that, so maybe that is making me a little biased.

 

[xp29]

I would also worry more about physical condition than actual weight. 380 grams is not a lot though. Most beardies would look very thin at that weight.
One of my rescues is barely over 500 grams and honestly i would have guessed her at 350 to 400. She still looks thin to me.
As she is recovering, you should see the fat pads on her head start to fill out, her hip bones should become less visible, and her tail should start to thicken at the base. Don't panic if you can still see her hips and ribs slightly, i still can on Ruby 2 years later. I suspect it will be permanent.
Also if the mbd was that severe you probably don't want her to heavy anyways, it might could be hard on her. Hopefully with the right uvb and calcium her bones will regain some of thier strength so she can carry a healthy weight.
Please keep us posted on her progress, we all route for them, especially then ones that were neglected.

 

[Hazel_Basil10]

My little rescue girl, Lemon, is about eight years old (according to her previous owner), and came to us looking very emaciated and malnourished, dehydrated, and pretty much unable to move around because of muscle atrophy and MBD. She was living in a too-small setup with repticarpet, a single hide that had been taken over by a roach colony, no basking light or heat source, a crappy coil UVB bulb that clearly wasn't cutting it (and who knows how old it was?). Fast forward 4 months and she's gaining weight after 3 rounds of antibiotics for a URI, and 2 rounds of antiparasite. She's also on pain meds for any chronic pain from MBD. Her MBD was partially resolved when we got her, her toes are still not really visible on an xray though. She'll never walk normal, but she has been much more active the last month or so. I got her sometime back in early September. She wasn't eating at all when we got her, barely able to move, and an xray revealed she had broken basically every bone in her body at least once. All this to say, the vet set a weight goal for her a month or so back, that she should get to 380g. She's almost there, which is great, but her ribs are still pretty darn visible, and her fat pads on her head are still pretty sunken, though they're not as bad as they once were. Mostly, we are worried about her weighing too much and producing eggs, because it would be very hard for her to lay without complications. I'm going back to the vet in a couple weeks, but I just wanted to get some people's opinions on if I should try to get the vet to reassess about the weight situation, since I am mainly focusing on her body condition rather than her weight.
At this point I'm kinda hoping my scale is just not all that accurate because of how skinny she still looks. I know beardies are often obese in captivity and we're very used to seeing that, so maybe that is making me a little biased.

I agree with xp, Even though my beardie is only 245 G and she doesn't look all that thin(Probs cuz she's a younger one and is a little smaller than average) but if it's an older beardie, then it would definitely be thinner.

 

[Someplacedude]

I would also worry more about physical condition than actual weight. 380 grams is not a lot though. Most beardies would look very thin at that weight.
One of my rescues is barely over 500 grams and honestly i would have guessed her at 350 to 400. She still looks thin to me.
As she is recovering, you should see the fat pads on her head start to fill out, her hip bones should become less visible, and her tail should start to thicken at the base. Don't panic if you can still see her hips and ribs slightly, i still can on Ruby 2 years later. I suspect it will be permanent.
Also if the mbd was that severe you probably don't want her to heavy anyways, it might could be hard on her. Hopefully with the right uvb and calcium her bones will regain some of thier strength so she can carry a healthy weight.
Please keep us posted on her progress, we all route for them, especially then ones that were neglected.

Thanks for the info and reassurance. I will talk to the vet about her physical condition at our next visit, especially the fat pads, ribs and hip bones. Her hip bones are still really visible, her ribs used to show all the way to her spine, now they show about halfway from the spine, so she's getting there. She only started eating veggies of her own volition a couple weeks ago. I used to have to put them in her mouth while she ate bugs. For over a month she was only eating liquid food because she didn't even have the strength to eat solid food. In my mind it wouldn't make sense for her to go from being that weak and underweight to being just fine in such a short time. Especially since she's still looking skinny.
I got her an arcadia uvb tube, 14%, giving her extra calcium in her occasional liquid food meals (sometimes she still doesn't want to eat, or is too weak, or hurts too much, I'm not sure which), and of course gutloading bugs, dusting bugs and salads with calcium powder. I also take her outside on sunny warm days. She loves it, she always asks to go outside when she's free roaming (supervised). She'll go right over to the door and bump it with her nose, look at me, bump it, look at me, scratch at it, and when I'm like "bb, it's raining" she storms off and pouts in a corner. So much personality! It's cool to get to see her come alive. When I got her, she was just kinda out of it, now she's so spicy and goofy. She doesn't want me to tell you guys, but she's also really sweet under all that spicy.

 

[xp29]

They are really special for sure, no one would ever guess a lizard would havecso much personality

 

[Hazelthebeardeddragon]

Thanks for the info and reassurance. I will talk to the vet about her physical condition at our next visit, especially the fat pads, ribs and hip bones. Her hip bones are still really visible, her ribs used to show all the way to her spine, now they show about halfway from the spine, so she's getting there. She only started eating veggies of her own volition a couple weeks ago. I used to have to put them in her mouth while she ate bugs. For over a month she was only eating liquid food because she didn't even have the strength to eat solid food. In my mind it wouldn't make sense for her to go from being that weak and underweight to being just fine in such a short time. Especially since she's still looking skinny.
I got her an arcadia uvb tube, 14%, giving her extra calcium in her occasional liquid food meals (sometimes she still doesn't want to eat, or is too weak, or hurts too much, I'm not sure which), and of course gutloading bugs, dusting bugs and salads with calcium powder. I also take her outside on sunny warm days. She loves it, she always asks to go outside when she's free roaming (supervised). She'll go right over to the door and bump it with her nose, look at me, bump it, look at me, scratch at it, and when I'm like "bb, it's raining" she storms off and pouts in a corner. So much personality! It's cool to get to see her come alive. When I got her, she was just kinda out of it, now she's so spicy and goofy. She doesn't want me to tell you guys, but she's also really sweet under all that spicy.

If you are trying to get her weight up have you thought about maybe giving her some butter worms or wax worms? I'm happy she's starting to perk up some. I don't know if the butter worms or wax worms would work as I'm a first-time beardie owner, but I've heard they help with weight, but they should only be fed as treats.

 

[Someplacedude]

If you are trying to get her weight up have you thought about maybe giving her some butter worms or wax worms? I'm happy she's starting to perk up some. I don't know if the butter worms or wax worms would work as I'm a first-time beardie owner, but I've heard they help with weight, but they should only be fed as treats.

Hey, yeah I've tried to feed her waxworms, but she looks at me like I'm trying to kill her and then runs away. Idk what that's about... lol. She's a weird gal. I've never tried butterworms tho, maybe it's worth a try.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Do you have any pictures of her you could post? They tend to take awhile to gain weight & recover
if they have been neglected. Keep trying with her, consistent feedings spread out over the day so that
she can digest better.
Can she move around pretty normally? Bless her, it sounds like she sure has had a rough life before
you took her in.
You can add some sweet potato or squash to her diet for help with some starches for weight gain. I
hope she doesn't develop eggs either, it can be hard on them.

Let us know how things are coming along for her.

Tracie

 

[Someplacedude]

Hello,

Do you have any pictures of her you could post? They tend to take awhile to gain weight & recover
if they have been neglected. Keep trying with her, consistent feedings spread out over the day so that
she can digest better.
Can she move around pretty normally? Bless her, it sounds like she sure has had a rough life before
you took her in.
You can add some sweet potato or squash to her diet for help with some starches for weight gain. I
hope she doesn't develop eggs either, it can be hard on them.

Let us know how things are coming along for her.

Tracie

Hi Tracie,
I took some pictures of her for reference. She can't walk normally, her from arms are kind of stuck bent and curled in. We are doing physical therapy with her, but she won't even be fully normal. She used to barely be able to walk or even lift herself up at all, so at least she's making progress.
I gave her some sweet potato with her salad today, she ate a couple bites, but sometimes I think her teeth hurt too much to eat much (?) She is missing a lot of teeth and the remaining ones have periodontal disease, which the vet said not to worry about because it shouldn't progress if we're taking good care of her. Anyway, all that to say I put it in the blender and she was very excited about the sweet potato then. So thanks for that! Gonna try squash next.
According to the previous owner, she only layed one egg ever, which is better than being prolific. She's older, so I'm hoping her body just doesn't do that ever again lol. Of course I won't overfeed her anyway so hopefully there's nothing to worry about. Vet said in her case, to make sure she doesn't lay, bugs should be 5% of diet with access to higher protein veggies to make up for the difference.
She's on cipro and metronidazole for URI and parasites, and meloxicam for pain from the MBD. Could those be affecting her appetite? She has gained appetite since starting them, but it has kind of tanked lately, she's near the end of her treatment though.

 

[xp29]

Bless her heart, she is such a pretty girl. It makes me so angry what people do to these guys
I'm glad she has a good home now.
And yes some meds will tank their appetite.
If your not using it, Oxbow critical care is great. You can get it on amazon. They offer herbivore, omnivore, and carnivore varieties. I use it pretty much every time I have one on antibiotics. (Thankfully that's rare) but I've had great success with it. You can mix it thin to help with hydration also.

 

[AHBD]

Hi Tracie,
I took some pictures of her for reference. She can't walk normally, her from arms are kind of stuck bent and curled in. We are doing physical therapy with her, but she won't even be fully normal. She used to barely be able to walk or even lift herself up at all, so at least she's making progress.
I gave her some sweet potato with her salad today, she ate a couple bites, but sometimes I think her teeth hurt too much to eat much (?) She is missing a lot of teeth and the remaining ones have periodontal disease, which the vet said not to worry about because it shouldn't progress if we're taking good care of her. Anyway, all that to say I put it in the blender and she was very excited about the sweet potato then. So thanks for that! Gonna try squash next.
According to the previous owner, she only layed one egg ever, which is better than being prolific. She's older, so I'm hoping her body just doesn't do that ever again lol. Of course I won't overfeed her anyway so hopefully there's nothing to worry about. Vet said in her case, to make sure she doesn't lay, bugs should be 5% of diet with access to higher protein veggies to make up for the difference.
She's on cipro and metronidazole for URI and parasites, and meloxicam for pain from the MBD. Could those be affecting her appetite? She has gained appetite since starting them, but it has kind of tanked lately, she's near the end of her treatment though.

For the condition she's in her weight is reasonable, you don't want her to be hefty when she's laboring to get around on deformed limbs. She looks pretty good though, alert for her condition and what she's been through, good job helping this forgotten little creature.

 

[Hazel_Basil10]

Hi Tracie,
I took some pictures of her for reference. She can't walk normally, her from arms are kind of stuck bent and curled in. We are doing physical therapy with her, but she won't even be fully normal. She used to barely be able to walk or even lift herself up at all, so at least she's making progress.
I gave her some sweet potato with her salad today, she ate a couple bites, but sometimes I think her teeth hurt too much to eat much (?) She is missing a lot of teeth and the remaining ones have periodontal disease, which the vet said not to worry about because it shouldn't progress if we're taking good care of her. Anyway, all that to say I put it in the blender and she was very excited about the sweet potato then. So thanks for that! Gonna try squash next.
According to the previous owner, she only layed one egg ever, which is better than being prolific. She's older, so I'm hoping her body just doesn't do that ever again lol. Of course I won't overfeed her anyway so hopefully there's nothing to worry about. Vet said in her case, to make sure she doesn't lay, bugs should be 5% of diet with access to higher protein veggies to make up for the difference.
She's on cipro and metronidazole for URI and parasites, and meloxicam for pain from the MBD. Could those be affecting her appetite? She has gained appetite since starting them, but it has kind of tanked lately, she's near the end of her treatment though.

Poor thing! It makes me sick to my stomach when people neglect their beloved animals. She looks way better than I thought. Is that a Leatherback? It looks like a Leatherback.That's a gorgeous beardie though! And I'm glad she's in a new home now.

 

[Someplacedude]

Bless her heart, she is such a pretty girl. It makes me so angry what people do to these guys
I'm glad she has a good home now.
And yes some meds will tank their appetite.
If your not using it, Oxbow critical care is great. You can get it on amazon. They offer herbivore, omnivore, and carnivore varieties. I use it pretty much every time I have one on antibiotics. (Thankfully that's rare) but I've had great success with it. You can mix it thin to help with hydration also.

Yeah, the way people treat them pisses me off too.
I've been using critical care since her first emergency vet visit, for 2 months it was the only way to get her to eat. Hopefully when she's done with the antibiotics and antiparasite meds she'll have a normal appetite. But yeah critical care was a life saver honestly. It helped her put on weight when she was refusing to eat otherwise. She's also been dehydrated from the meds, one of them has that side effect (can't remember which), so I've been giving her water by syringe but the last couple days I went back to the critical care cause she's been refusing food, probably because of meds.

 

[Someplacedude]

Poor thing! It makes me sick to my stomach when people neglect their beloved animals. She looks way better than I thought. Is that a Leatherback? It looks like a Leatherback.That's a gorgeous beardie though! And I'm glad she's in a new home now.

I'm not super sure what morph she is but if I had to guess I'd say she definitely has leatherback from at least one of her parents. She's not completely smooth on her back, but almost.
She's been recovering pretty fast, to the amazement of me and the vets. Using critical care has definitely helped, and all the fluid, electrolyte, calcium and vitamin IVs from the emergency vet (multiple times) I'm so glad she's in my life, even when she's grumpy at me for giving her medicine or trying to clean goopy liquid food off her nose.

 

[Someplacedude]

For the condition she's in her weight is reasonable, you don't want her to be hefty when she's laboring to get around on deformed limbs. She looks pretty good though, alert for her condition and what she's been through, good job helping this forgotten little creature.

Aww, thanks! Yeah I'm just wondering what the best weight is when it comes to her whole situation. She's definitely surprised me with how much she's improved in the last 4-ish months. She was in a pretty bad way and she'll never be normal, but it seems like she is really trying to get better. Her will to live is amazing. 8 years of neglect and abuse and she still has so much fight in her. And sass! I'm amazed every time I see her. And the fact that she trusts a single human on the face of this planet after what she's been through amazes me and humbles me. We really don't deserve them.