Questions about weight

[Someplacedude]

An update for anyone who wants one:
Lemon had her vet appointment today and they said she's doing very well. They were surprised at how she's bounced back from such a long time of not getting what she needs. Her bones are almost all recalcified. The fractures are healing rapidly and her swelling around her joints and fractures has gone down immensely. She has reached her goal weight of 380 grams. I asked the vet why her ribs are visible and he said it's partially because yes, she is still a bit thin, but mostly the MBD and resulting bone fractures in her ribs has made her unable to have the mobility in her ribs that most beardies have, so we will always be able to see her ribs at least some. He said we can plump her up a little more so that her hips are less visible and her tail doesn't go in so much when it meets her hip bones. But he said in order to avoid her producing eggs, we should feed her strictly vegetarian diet except for the very occasional bug.
My question is.... is that ok to do? We're talking like bugs less than once a week. I'm not super sure on how safe that is. Of course, I don't want her to make eggs, that would be bad given her condition. Just wondering if someone can help put my mind at ease about this? Thanks everybody.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Wow, bless her. I am always so saddened when they go through such neglect & abuse but to somehow
find the ability to trust a new caretaker & improve on such drastic measures.
It sounds like she is doing very well so you are doing a terrific job! Any amount of weight gain is fine, it is
progress. You definitely don't want her to develop eggs, perhaps she just wont. It's hard to know but we
can hope that she wont.
Well, I am not sure about having such a low protein diet. Perhaps AHBD can chime in on that since she
has bred little ones, for years. I feel she does need protein, but you definitely don't need to go overboard.
A vegetarian diet only might also cause a protein deficiency if too strict too.
I'm very happy that her bones are healing up nicely & strengthening, too.

Tracie

 

[xp29]

An update for anyone who wants one:
Lemon had her vet appointment today and they said she's doing very well. They were surprised at how she's bounced back from such a long time of not getting what she needs. Her bones are almost all recalcified. The fractures are healing rapidly and her swelling around her joints and fractures has gone down immensely. She has reached her goal weight of 380 grams. I asked the vet why her ribs are visible and he said it's partially because yes, she is still a bit thin, but mostly the MBD and resulting bone fractures in her ribs has made her unable to have the mobility in her ribs that most beardies have, so we will always be able to see her ribs at least some. He said we can plump her up a little more so that her hips are less visible and her tail doesn't go in so much when it meets her hip bones. But he said in order to avoid her producing eggs, we should feed her strictly vegetarian diet except for the very occasional bug.
My question is.... is that ok to do? We're talking like bugs less than once a week. I'm not super sure on how safe that is. Of course, I don't want her to make eggs, that would be bad given her condition. Just wondering if someone can help put my mind at ease about this? Thanks everybody.

Oh man that is a great update. You are doing a great job with her. Personally I don't know about the very low protein diet, so I'll defer to those that do. But it makes me happy she is bouncing back, please keep us updated on her progress

 

[Someplacedude]

Oh man that is a great update. You are doing a great job with her. Personally I don't know about the very low protein diet, so I'll defer to those that do. But it makes me happy she is bouncing back, please keep us updated on her progress

Thanks! I was super happy to hear the vet say so much good stuff about her. When it's every day watching tiny progress, it can seem like nothing much is changing. I will make sure to keep you guys updated Thanks for caring about my little gal.

 

[Someplacedude]

Hello,

Wow, bless her. I am always so saddened when they go through such neglect & abuse but to somehow
find the ability to trust a new caretaker & improve on such drastic measures.
It sounds like she is doing very well so you are doing a terrific job! Any amount of weight gain is fine, it is
progress. You definitely don't want her to develop eggs, perhaps she just wont. It's hard to know but we
can hope that she wont.
Well, I am not sure about having such a low protein diet. Perhaps AHBD can chime in on that since she
has bred little ones, for years. I feel she does need protein, but you definitely don't need to go overboard.
A vegetarian diet only might also cause a protein deficiency if too strict too.
I'm very happy that her bones are healing up nicely & strengthening, too.

Tracie

Thanks, Tracie!
Yeah I'm wondering about the low protein diet too. I obviously want to do everything I can to prevent her from making eggs, but to my knowledge it's not so much bugs/protein/fat that makes them develop eggs, but being overfed. Which is obviously not what my vet said. So the jury's out for me on that. I definitely wouldn't want her to develop any kind of protein deficiency, maybe an alternative protein option could be some herbivore critical care? Maybe with a little reptaboost mixed in.
I feel she needs protein too, it wouldn't make sense for them to get all their protein from leafy greens and other veggies which are mostly water, vitamins, and carbs. I guess I'll have to do more research on it. I wish I could contact another vet just to ask but the only one I know of in my area other than the one I go to is someone who told me to just euthanize her first thing upon seeing her, and then later went on to recommend repticarpet and said beardies need high humidity, recommended coil UVB, said having no basking light is fine as long as there is a ceramic heat emitter, and said don't put a water dish in for them.... so... I think she doesn't know what she's talking about...Then she charged me an arm and a leg on top of it.
Current vet who told me to put her on the low protein diet says that's what he feeds his beardie, who I met (he lives in the clinic I guess) and his beardie seemed to be bright, alert, active, and at a good weight judging from body condition. Maybe he was over exaggerating how little protein to give, thinking that most people would want to give more/cheat, so advising for less might yield the actual desired results?
As always, open to advice on this, y'all have more experience than I do.

 

[xp29]

Thanks, Tracie!
Yeah I'm wondering about the low protein diet too. I obviously want to do everything I can to prevent her from making eggs, but to my knowledge it's not so much bugs/protein/fat that makes them develop eggs, but being overfed. Which is obviously not what my vet said. So the jury's out for me on that. I definitely wouldn't want her to develop any kind of protein deficiency, maybe an alternative protein option could be some herbivore critical care? Maybe with a little reptaboost mixed in.
I feel she needs protein too, it wouldn't make sense for them to get all their protein from leafy greens and other veggies which are mostly water, vitamins, and carbs. I guess I'll have to do more research on it. I wish I could contact another vet just to ask but the only one I know of in my area other than the one I go to is someone who told me to just euthanize her first thing upon seeing her, and then later went on to recommend repticarpet and said beardies need high humidity, recommended coil UVB, said having no basking light is fine as long as there is a ceramic heat emitter, and said don't put a water dish in for them.... so... I think she doesn't know what she's talking about...Then she charged me an arm and a leg on top of it.
Current vet who told me to put her on the low protein diet says that's what he feeds his beardie, who I met (he lives in the clinic I guess) and his beardie seemed to be bright, alert, active, and at a good weight judging from body condition. Maybe he was over exaggerating how little protein to give, thinking that most people would want to give more/cheat, so advising for less might yield the actual desired results?
As always, open to advice on this, y'all have more experience than I do.

Oh my, I wouldn't ask that 1st vet for the time of day!!!! If they don't know they should just say as much instead of giving out bad advice.

 

[Someplacedude]

Oh my, I wouldn't ask that 1st vet for the time of day!!!! If they don't know they should just say as much instead of giving out bad advice.

I totally agree. The worst part is that she's the only exotics vet in my city. The next closest one is about an hour away. Which I'm happy to go to for my girl's sake, but it would be so much better to have a competent exotics vet closer to where I'm at.
On the bright side, there is also a 24/7 emergency vet about an hour away in the other direction that does reptiles and were very knowledgable.
But yeah, that lady.... ugh.... she also was mean and talked down to me for using loose substrate, etc. I was like ok, if you don't want business, I'm happy to never come back.

 

[xp29]

I totally agree. The worst part is that she's the only exotics vet in my city. The next closest one is about an hour away. Which I'm happy to go to for my girl's sake, but it would be so much better to have a competent exotics vet closer to where I'm at.
On the bright side, there is also a 24/7 emergency vet about an hour away in the other direction that does reptiles and were very knowledgable.
But yeah, that lady.... ugh.... she also was mean and talked down to me for using loose substrate, etc. I was like ok, if you don't want business, I'm happy to never come back.

Absolutely businesses forget they need us more than we need them, i never understand how they think it's ok to be rude.