I recently received a beardie... very sweet... 3 year old female. I was told she had recently clutched but may have a clutch in her.
Fine.
Shes in a 50 gallon tank with playsand.. reptisun.. her temps are 106 on her basking side and 80 on the cool side, though she rarely leaves her basking area.
She wasn't fat when I got her.
Daily, She eats her 6 superworms, or 2-3 Large silkies... or 1-2 hornworms.. and her salads.. (this weeks: Kale, collard greens, mustard greens, a bit of cilantro, zucchini and a bit of carrot.) She gets her vitamins and calcium with d3 and an anti parisite (parazap).
About 3 weeks after receiving her, she started to get get plump. I didn't think much of it as her previous owner had said she may clutch again... and she got even fatter and fatter.. its been two months.. she's ginormous! When i got her she was at 378. Last I checked she was up to 546 grams... she looks like a balloon.
In the last two weeks her pooping has slowed, in the last two weeks which concerns me as well.. it seems like shes having a hard time so we take a bath every day.. she poops a little but not like my other dragons.
try sending us a picture because bearded dragons naturally have an overweight look to them, but if she is really really big then she will probably clutch again.
I would like to see pics however thats truely alot of weight to gain so quickly so I would be concerned.Can you get her to the vet for an xray?My concern is that she may be egg bound which would also explain why she is having difficulty pooping.Did she lay the last clutch with any difficulty?
I know nothing of how her previous laying has gone....I did consider that maybe it is an egg binding issue.... and i do have a local herp vet so an appointment will be made ASAP. I decided today she was going to go regardless..as her size does concern me. I wasnt sure, however, that that really made sense to see a vet for a fat dragon.
Well the concern isnt that she is "fat",my concern was the weight you listed when you got her verse what she is now.That is a fairly large jump.While it is possible she just wasnt being fed as much by the previous owner and if she had layed recently this may just be her replenishing her fat stores (so dont freak out)it still would be soemthing I would take the vet visit for simply because if the eggs ruptured or the follicles reabsorbed her abdomen could be filling with fluid causing the rapid weight gain and the only way to rule that out is to take the trip.
Thanks for the pics.Ok that is not normal fat beardie belly.If I had to guess there is some fluid build up going on for sure.The faster you can get her to the vet the better.Please keep us posted.
I took her to the vet.. had an xray... and shes just fat.
No eggs...no fluid... nothing. shes just a fat fat fat dragon.
I may just cut superworms out of her diet altogether and feed her only silk and horn worms and see if that helps.
That is great! OMG, she really is a fattie! LOL :wink: yes I would cut out the supers and most of the protein and start more on the salads! Please let us know if we can help you get her diet in check! Here is a great list in case you don't have it and Good luck... http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
Really?Wow I am so shocked but very happy indeed as what I thought it was did not have a good prognosis at all.As she is so heavy you are going to have to try to get her more onto the greens and less on the protien as fatty liver disease could become a problem but for know just breathe a sigh of relief!