Healthy Weight?

[Mak]

Thank you to anybody who reads this and gives suggestions and advice!!!

I recently took my girl to the vets for a general checkup and the vet stated that Kilgharrah was the biggest bearded dragon she'd ever seen.

We'd never thought Kil to be overly big, but we've never seen another adult in person so we've never had anything to compare her too.

She is roughly 52 cm (20.47 inches) and last time she was weighed she was 760 grams!
I've read up online that weight varies depending on the beardie, but roughly majority are around 300-400?
The vet said she was a little overweight, but not grossly.

We had another vet check her out, just incase and her opinion was that Kilgharrah needed to lose weight?

I know it'll probably be hard to judge simply through photos, but how much weight should we try and get her to lose?
Any strategies to help her lose weight?
We've limited her insects and will start letting her have swims in the bathtub (we'll put something in her for her to climb onto). She's let out into the house daily and will often run around.

Thanks for any responses and suggestions

 

[mxw0rld]

First of all we need to know a few more things to be able to help you.

When you say adult, do you mean 1 year old or 3 years old or what. That makes a difference.

Also, what are you feeding her?

How much are you feeding her?

How many times are you feeding her, once a day, 3 times a day, or every 2 days, or what?

Does she eat greens?

 

[Mak]

Sorry about that! ^^; of course you guys need more to go off!

She's roughly a year and a half now

She's a really fussy eater, so doesn't eat what she should be eating.
She'll happily eat most insects but won't hunt for them, she'll expect to be hand fed or bowl fed.

She eats grasshoppers, crickets, woodies (bush cockroaches), silkworms, superworms and mealworms (rarely fed to her).
She is eating insects every day at the moment (trying to shift to veggies but she doesn't like them) and roughly eats 8 or 9 grasshoppers/crickets/roaches a day (used to eat far more but am cutting her back, she used to eat until she made herself sick; so almost a box in one sitting!)

Veggie and green wise, daily I can get her to eat a bit of kale or lettuce (don't know what kind, but it's one of the fancier, dark kinds. Not iceberg). Today we discovered she'll happily eat Zuchini.
Besides Kale, some lettuces, Buk Choy, mulberry leaves and Zuchini she won't eat anything else.
We've tried her on carrot, broccoli, dandelion greens, pumpkin, green beans, alfalfa, squash, escarole and watercress but she won't eat any of those.
We've tried to put worms in her salad but she wouldn't eat them, and we've tried misting them and moving them around yet she still won't eat them.
She really doesn't like fruit either. We've tried putting fruit in her salad to temp her to eat it, but she refuses to eat any fruit... which is odd?

She is fed morning and afternoon.
Greens in the morning (if she'll eat them) and insects probably around 4 or 5 pm.

We think she put on all the weight a while ago (couple of months?) when she refused to eat anything for a couple of weeks, that's when we introduces Superworms to her and that was all she would eat. She lived of those for probably a month or two before we started easing her back onto crickets and roaches.

The bet recommended a while ago we syringe her baby food to start getting the nutrients into her. We were stringing her pumpkin and apple baby food (until we could get sweet potato or something. Stores only had fruit or meat ones at the time) and as we were feeding her she spat it up and inhaled it. A vet trip and a couple of nights in critical care, we really don't want to have to syringe her again if possible!!!
She won't lick the stuff off her nose, or eat it either, so we're at a bit of a loss.

She lives in a 90cm glass tank and has a Reptile One 10.0 15W UVB tube suspended in her tank and a 150W Basking Bulb. Currently, her temps are at: 30 for warm end, 26 for cold end and around 38 degrees Celsius for her basking spot. She is on reptile matting (was kept on sand at pet store which lead to impaction problems) and her tank has a background so she can't see her reflection. Humidity is currently at 38%.

Is there any way to get her to eat better, and how much weight do you think she should lose?

Thank you for any help!






Ps. Sorry, turns out photos hadn't attached last time!!! Hopefully they attach alright this time around.

 

[mxw0rld]

At her age I would recommend feeding her insects every other day and cut out the worms. Worms are high in fat. I had the exact same problem with superworms with my oldest a few months back. With her weight I never would have recommended baby food! Baby food is really not good for them. It has sugar, salt and preservatives.

The best thing for you to do is tough love! You have to be strong and not give in. If she was eating to the point of getting sick then she has a problem and can't stop eating. You as the parent have to limit her so she doesn't get obese and have problems.

This isn't going to happen over night. This is going to take time to adjust her to a normal food regimen. Like I said above going every other day with the insects to start and then every 2 days and by the time she is 3 years old it should be every 3 days. This is once a day insects.

Keep offering her greens and if she is really hungry she will eat them. The problem with her now is she isn't hungry! She knows that you will give in and give her the good stuff! Just like with any child who would want to eat their veggies when you know if you hold out long enough dad is going to come in and give you the sweet stuff! Lol

Bearded dragons are smart and know humans will give them whatever they want. They know how to tilt that head and look at us with those eyes and it melts our hearts so we give in! I have done it, heck I still do it but I have learned I will only give him 1 superworm and then I make him eat his greens, which he will eat about 3 bites and then he will look at me with those eyes and I say you have to eat a dubia, which he won't so then I close his doors and walk away. It has been there hardest thing I have ever had to do but I've got a big boy myself. He's only 5 months old and weighs almost 400 grams.

The other thing you can do is keep a log of what she eats on which day and how many. Example on Monday she eats 10 dubia's and then Wednesday she has 15 (cuz she knows she has to go 2 days) obviously the point here is to get her to not eat a lot of insects so you don't want her eating 30 every other day. I would try to stick to 10-20 and do this for a few months then either lower it or go every 2 days. Just remember this is going to take time. You won't see results right away and that's okay. Just stick with it.

Once she realizes she's not getting the insects she will start to eat her veggies. Have you ever tried the salad dressing for bearded dragons? I use that and both of mine love their greens plus it keeps them hydrated.

Do you have a scale? If not I would invest in one. Maybe with the money you will be able to save by not buying so many insects! Lol

Once you get the scale, do weigh in's. Make sure you do it on the same day close to the same time. You can do weekly but I don't think you will see much change in a week. I would do monthly. Here is something else you can write down. Each time you weigh her, the date and time, along with her weight.

I hope this helps, good luck, stay strong and keep us posted!

 

[Mak]

Thank you so much for al of your advice and suggestions!!!

We've already stopped the worms (figured out that was her weight problem) and are only giving her crickets, grasshoppers and woodies. She doesn't like them very much but as you said, tough love.
The vet recommended organic baby food which isn't supposed to have preservatives or anything and that wasn't for good, only to try and help her get some nutrients as she's never eaten veggies.
I think I'll stop that now after she inhaled it, and considering what you've just told me.

It was only when she was younger I let her eat to that point as I read up you're supposed to let them eat as much as they will as babies? Unfortunately the damage was already done before we'd worked out she's just a guts.
I'm limiting her to 8-9 a day and I'll slowly start easing her off them daily, as you stated.

The reason I haven't tried the strategy where I take her off insects and only provide her veggies is because I've tried that before and it caused problems.
She went for about three weeks of not eating anything and that's why we started with the supers (which lead to the weight problems) so I'm not too game to take away her insects cold turkey in fear she'll go back to that.
But you're right and thank you for your suggestions!!!
I'll slowly start limiting her insects and drop it down to once every two days, and hopefully she'll decide to start eating her veg.
It's so hard to refuse when they do the little head tilt, isn't it!?

I'll start keeping a log, thank you for suggesting that! I wouldn't have thought of it. Not only will it allow me to monitor how many insects she eats, it'll help me make sure she EATS and doesn't stop completely like she did a while ago.

I live in Australia so pet stores here are quite often limited in what reptile products they sell (at least where I live anyway). I've never heard or seen the reptile dressing? Is there anywhere I could buy it online?
She doesn't eat fruit, so if it consists of that I'm not sure if she'd like it too much anyway.

I do have scales thanks I'll make sure to start weighing her!

Thank you for all of your help and advice, I really do appreciate it!!!

It's hard to tell when they're overweight (besides weight obviously) especially when you don't have another Beardie to compare with!
I'm a bit frustrated I let her get to this point, but I never thought to weigh her and personally, she doesn't look obese to me? But as I said, I've never seen a other adult bearded dragon in person, so what do I know I suppose! ^^;

Somebody recommended to me that if she likes to swim (so long as there's something she can climb onto in the bath) that swimming every other day would help her lose weight.
Of course I'd be supervising; would you recommend this? Just let her have a light swim every now and then?

I'll keep you posted, thank you once again for all of your advice!

 

[PatsyB]

Mxw0rld has given some good advise. Any baby food over time is going to cause diarrhea and then dehydration not to mention all the added stuff to keep it "fresh" in a jar for so long, even the organic stuff. Best bet would be to make your own sorta baby food at home. I have a girl that suddenly went off her greens but will happily drink them from a syringe. She doesn't like a chunky slurry she likes it more juice like. So I take her salad items, dandelion, collards, mustards, turnip and put them in a NutriBullet with some bee pollen, calcium, probiotic and some plain coconut water and she laps it up! This way I know exactly what she is getting and I can change up the supplements if I want to.

Getting back to your original question though. Weight is all relative. I once read that 500g is a perfect weight for an adult dragon but Dexter is 19" long, at 500 grams she looks emaciated. We are at around 525 with her (I have to weigh her today). Dexter actually grew to 19" AFTER she was 18 months old. She was always stuck around 17" and then she had a little growth spurt. So it's quite possible your girl can get even longer! As long as she looks proportionate and there's nothing swelling or her belly is up off the floor when she stands, she's probably okay, just a big girl. I do agree that super worms are can put on weight real fast so I would cut them down. I feed my adults bugs every 3days and salad every day. You could try putting bee pollen on your salads, that might entice her to eat them.

Swimming is fine, just make sure you dry her off real good before you put her back in her tank. Usually if you just cut back on their food you will see a weight loss.

 

[mxw0rld]

You are quite welcome! I do have logs and charts myself that I keep for my beardie's so if you would like to see how I set mine up I would be more than happy to share.

As far as the baby food, yes stop that right away! I have a question for you - when you buy her grasshoppers, woodies, crickets, etc do you provide food for them?

You do know you can give the insects the greens/veggies so that way she is still getting her veggies. There are a lot of BD's in this world that do not eat their greens at all. I do know they feed their insects the fruits and veggies. So their beardies get the fruits and veggies from the insects. That could be something to think about.

I did the exact same thing as you! Let them eat as much as they can when they are babies, but I believe in my situation it's the superworms! He did the salad trick on me this morning! He wouldn't eat his roaches so I slid his salad over and he starts eating it, takes his 3 bites and then looks at me like I'm ready for my worm now! Hubby told me if he is that smart to know to do that then give him one. So I did give him one and then he ate 3 roaches! Don't think this was always this easy cuz it wasn't. It's been a lot of hard work and tough love!

I agree with you to not take away her insects completely! 8-9 once a day is a GREAT start! I'm happy with those numbers. Like I said before - this is going to be a slow process.

I'm not familiar with online websites in Australia as I'm in USA but I get mine on drsfostersmith.com - I do know EBay and Amazon sells it as well. I don't think it has fruits in it but it has a strawberry flavor.

Don't be hard on yourself! You had no idea that this would happen! You didn't do this on purpose! You obviously love your beardie or you wouldn't be asking questions and taking her to the vet! No one is perfect and we all learn from our mistakes. Maybe someone in the future will be able to learn from this and to stay away from superworms! [emoji4]

As far as swimming. Do you not currently give her baths? I do baths about every 2-3 days, depending on my schedule and at that time they do this little dance like they are trying to get out of the bathtub. You only want to put the water up to her shoulders and never walk away. If she does go to sleep in the bathtub then that means you have the water just right! If you warm it up a bit then she should start the dancing around!

 

[Hdrydr31]

You have a beautiful dragon!! I don't think she is fat at all she looks very proportional for her length.. I have a 10 month male and he's 508gr at 19 1/2" Just cut back on the supers and feed bugs every 2-3 days.. I always feed my 2 their salads first then later in the day they get their bugs. Making your own salad dressing with veggies and greens and some supplements will do just fine.. I do it weekly to make sure mine get their supplements. Bath time is great I bathe mine every day (mine only poop in the bath) and they love their swimming time.
I keep daily records of what they eat, weight, poop and what they are doing, if they get to go outside... mine are 1 1/2 female and my male so I am establishing baselines for them.

 

[Mak]

Okay thank you for all the warnings about the baby food! I figured it'd help keep her hydrated (she's not good at eating) and help her pass motions (struggles with impaction) but to know it'll only dehydrate her and cause diarrhoea; I think I'll definitely stop that.
I wouldn't have thought to create my own slurry for her!!! Thank you for that suggestion. I don't currently have a blender or anything, so as soon as money isn't as tight I'll get one of those and try that! Helps to know its natural and has all the things she's actually supposed to be eating.
I've never heard of bee pollen? I'll look into it.

I've stopped the superworms and mealworms (learnt the consequences of those ^^ and she doesn't look grotesquely overweight to me, but as I said she's the only adult I've seen so I don't know what I'm looking for! Her belly doesn't drag but there are some parts where she's looking a little chunky so I think the diet will help regardless. She gets around fine and is still fairly active? I'm not denying and saying she's not overweight! Because I can tell she is a little porky, I'm just not good at telling to what extent and when I read up they're meant to weigh around 300 I kinda freaked!

I always make sure to dry her off after her baths, don't want her humidity getting to high or her catching a chill

mxw0rld, would you mind sending me a picture of your log if you get the chance and it's not too much of s bother? Just so I can have an idea of how you're lying yours out?

Yes I always feed her insects before giving them to her. They have a pre-made gut load food (I'm sorry I can't remember the brand?) which is basically a powder, so alongside that I also give them her veggies when she won't eat them, which I spray to provide the insects with water.
So she does get some veggies through her insects but I was never sure to what extent she got them.

Haha your Beardie sounds really smart and adorable!!!
That's why I've tried to start feeding her greens in the morning, and if she's good and eats them sometimes she'll get a grasshopper or cricket immediately afterwards!
The days she doesn't eat her veg though she has to wait until the afternoon.
I think maybe slowly she's learning to start eating her veg?
They're funny and smart little things! Never would have thought she'd be fussier than my cat!!!

I'm glad that sounds like the right amount! It sounds silly to be getting so stressed over this, but I'm worried I've been over feeding her so much to now go to under feeding her! So I'm glad you think that 8-9 is alright!

She doesn't like strawberries, always spite them out!!! -_- but maybe if it's a dressing it'll have a different affect? Thank you so much for the pictures of the product! I'll look into it!

Thank you so much for all the advice and support! I did heaps of research before getting her and thought I was prepared! Key word being thought here! I just feel terrible because there have been so many problems! Ah, first reptile, first complicated pet! I suppose you can never be prepared!
Thank you once again to both of you for all your help!

Yes I bath her every 2-3 days as well to help with her impaction problems. I had some trouble a while ago with her temps being too hot, so I bath her regularly just out of habit now!
What the person meant was deeper water than her, deep enough that she has to swim for a bit (with me watching of course) and only let her do it for a minute or so, just enough to exercise. I was slightly dubious about this as even if I'm watching, having the water deep enough that she can't touch the bottom is a little concerning! What's your opinion on this? Do you think it's a good idea or do you think it'll cause too much stress and be dangerous? I've only ever put her in baths up to her shoulders so I'm not too sure about this idea.
She already does the little dance in the baths! and will sometimes stick her head under and scratch about! I bath her in the bathroom sink and since she's a big girl she can't really move much as she just fits! Even if I don't force her to swim, I'm still going to upgrade her to the bath so that she has room to run around if she'd like.
They're such funny things!

Once again, thank you both for all of your help and suggestions! I really do appreciate it all!
I'll keep you posted on her

 

[Hdrydr31]

I do use all natural gerber baby food on occasion just not all the time, ill use squash or pumpkin peas with no ill effects i just dont make it a habit. I find the sweet of bee pollen plenty

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[Mak]

Thank you Hdrydr31!!! I love her to bits I'm glad to know she doesn't look grossly overweight. When I found out that the average is supposedly 300-400, and she's at 700 I sort of freaked out! Thank you for your opinion on her, I was starting to worry I had a very chubby girl on my hands!

Thank you for your advice about the feeding! I'm devinately going to try and coax her into a better diet; it'll just take some time and tough love!

My girl used to love her baths, but lately she's been freaking out over them for some reason! Hopefully she'll bounce back around, it was so cute watching her do the little bath dances!

Do your two interact together? A male and female, they must cause you done grief sometimes haha!
I would have loved to have gotten a little 'friend' for my girl, almost did until reading up the dangers of keeping them together!
I've got an extra tank now, and I would love another but I think Kil's enough work at the moment! Two of the little monsters would eat me out of house and home haha.

Thank you once again for your opinions and recommendations, I really appreciate it!

 

[mxw0rld]

Hi Mak, as far as swimming… I have heard that bearded dragons are avid swimmers but I personally wouldn't put my Wally or my baby Lacey in the water over their heads. They are known to hold their breath for looking periods of time but it would freak me out!

I think with all the changes you are doing now that you should hold off on the Olympic swimming! Lol

But she is your baby, you do what you think is best.

It is no trouble to send you the charts. If you need anything just ask that's what we are here for!

I think you are doing a fine job with Kil, as far as a friend for Kil. I do not recommend that. I have Wally who is 5 months old and has his fair share of problems, ugh… and now I've got an 8 week old baby girl. They are in separate tanks. But my food costs have gone up and my personal time is gone! But both of mine are babies and like I said Wally has issues that keep me busy. Lol

Here are those charts and a picture of my kids.

 

[Hdrydr31]

No my 2 dont interact he black beards and goes nuts lol they are in different rooms, 1 infamikt room and 1 in kitchen (i can see them both) but at nighttime i have them both on my chest asleep (seperated by towels)
Lower the level of water a bit to her elbows and see how she does. Its interesting having a male and female they are very different.
Your gal isnt over weight, when she runs around is her belly off the ground? If so your fine, shes a big dragon all around. My male is big all around but not fat.

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[Hdrydr31]

I have 2 spirals 1 for Izzy and 1 for Simon i write what i feed them, how many, if they are up or not or awake but in hide (mine are either brumating or slowing down) weight, bath, if pooped or not, if they got outside time, if ive changed bulbs. Really anything notable, shedding...that way i can look back and see their norm for that time of year.
My izzy was too young last year to brumate so she partially did, this year i think shes gonna. My male is young but in good weight and is slowing down so he may dont know.

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[Mak]

mxw0rld
I've seen my girl occasionally stick her head in her water dish and sit like that for a while, and that always freaks me out! I don't think I'm game enough to do the Olympic swimming haha!
The waters always enough that if she wants to have a splash about, she can anyway was just wondering what you guys thought about the swimming.

Thank you so much for sending through the charts!!! I now have an idea of how I'm going to set mine up and record them, so thanks heaps!!!

Oh I didn't mean I'm going to run out and grab another! Haha Kilgharrah is more than enough work at the moment! I'd never house them together either. She's a funny little thing, half the time I think she would have liked company because she adores the cats and dog (always lying on them) but that doesn't necessarily mean she'd like another Beardie, nor does it mean the other Beardie would like her!
Maybe one day in the very distant future, haha but for now I'm content with my girl.

I'm sorry to hear Wally's having some troubles, hopefully the little guy has it easier soon!
Bearded Dragons certainly aren't as 'low maintenance' as everywhere online seemed to tell me!
Even when my girl isn't having troubles, she just demands attention!

Your two are beautiful looking dragons! the red colouration is lovely!!! Wally's certainly a big boy for his age! I imagine he's going to end up a monster of a dragon! They grow too quickly, I remember when Kil was as small (or smaller even) as your girl!

Thanks once again for all of your help!

Here's some pictures of Kil annoying the cat Poppy!

 

[Mak]

Hdrydr31,
Ah that's a pity they don't get along! I'm not sure how well you'd be wanting a male and female to be getting along anyway! It's so adorable how they'll just fall asleep when you're holding them ^^ your two sound adorable!

I've started lowering the water and she still doesn't seem to like it a great deal, but she didn't completely freak like last time... so thank you!
Hopefully she'll be back to liking bath time soon.

They act very differently do they?
Kilgharrah was initially thought to be a male when we bought her, but she ended up fooling us all!

No her belly doesn't drag and she doesn't seem to have a problem running around and trying to find the cat, or a nice place to sleep!
It just seems crazy that she's 760 grams!!!

That's a good idea to record general observations too. Will help me keep track better of when I've changed bulbs etc. thank you for telling me how you record your information! I'll definitely make sure to start doing so.

Kilgharrah didn't go into brumination, I was personally really worried about it so was glad she didn't!
When I talked to the vet about it, she stated that Bearded Dragons don't seem to go into brumination where I live because winter doesn't get all too cold. I thought it was instinctual though, and considering wild ones do I found that a little odd!? But if she doesn't have to go into it, less stress for us I suppose!
If she wants to this year, I'll still let her of course!

Thank you for all of your help and suggestions once again

 

[mxw0rld]

Mak,

Thank you for the lovely pictures of Kil and Poppy! That first one where they are nose kissing is adorable! I hope mine get along with my cats. I have 5 cats that have all been dropped off to me throughout the years.

When you read or saw that adult bearded dragons are supposed to be 300-400 grams I think that's just someone's opinion. My Wally weighs almost 400 grams and he's only 5 months old, yes he's going to be a big boy. What you have to remember is that not all dragons are the same. It's not a black and white by the book, this is how it has to be our else type thing. Okay so Kil is a bit on the heavy side, so what… that shows she's healthy and loved. I still would slow down the insects like we talked about but 8-9 a day for awhile is a great number and great start. I think you will know as her dad when to start going to every other day or you could do 4-5 a day. But I honestly think if you stick to these numbers she will get hungry and eat her greens.

Thank you for your kind words with regards to Wally. He was sick with parasites when I got him, put him on the medicine for the parasites, which made him worse. He stopped eating for weeks. I had to do the slurries to keep him alive. Then it was hard to get him to eat on his own so I was dumb and offered him superworms. Which he ate. I was just so happy to get him to eat on his own that I fed him supers for days. It wasn't until his poop was full of supers that I freaked out. So then Hdrydr31 came to my rescue and gave me the tough love "talk" omg it was hard. I drove her nuts for days but after 3 days Wally starting eating and I cried! Well… since then we now have found out he is the one dragon in the world with a sensitive stomach! I can't have my feeders from just anywhere eating whatever otherwise he gets sick. It's almost like an antacid, that he takes. He will have bad gas, coming out of both ends, he won't sleep. He will bang his head around. He keeps me awake!! I knew right away what was going on with him because we ran out of our normal roaches and got some from a local lady, who uses dog food, which most dragons can tolerate just fine. They don't bother Lacey. But Wally they did. So now I have to coax him into eating a roach. I can understand why he is hesitant. I wouldn't want to eat the thing that makes me sick either. I wish there was some way I could tell him, hey Wally these are the good ones. I promise you, these won't make you sick.

And like you, I feel bad too. You are right these guys are not low maintenance at all, if you want a relationship with them. Which I do. I took him shopping with me yesterday and people were amazed at how he just sits on my shoulder as I walk around.

Yes! They grow way TOO quick! I LOVE the baby size but yet I love the bigger size cuz then we can go and do things together. Lacey is still too young to go shopping and when we go outside Wally just kinda sits there where Lacey wants to run and explore.

I hope Kil learns to eat her veggies/greens and she starts liking her baths again.

 

[PatsyB]

I just wanted to add one more thing about the food you feed your feeders. It's a very good and healthy idea to also feed them the salad items you feed your beardies. I always kept the dry food and water crystals in my cricket tank and then they would also get the stems from my greens that I feed the beardies.

 

[Mak]

Five cats! You certainly must have your hands full! Fingers crossed for you that they'll all get along good! Kil initially freaked out at Poppy and whenever she went to run off, Poppy would go into play mode and start nipping at her toes and tail. I hardly used to let them interact due to this. One day Kil was basking by the window and Poppy went over, I immediately got up to grab her but she just sat down next to Kil in the sun with her. It took Poppy a while to resist the urge to pounce on her tail, but now they're perfectly behaved around each other and I reckon I could leave them unsupervised if I needed (though I never will, never leave Kil unsupervised, especially around the cats).
I'm sure yours will all get along! Might just take a little time for them to get used to each other.

Thank you for reassuring me about this once again, as I said I read up, saw that and thought my girl must've been grossly obese. I now understand that it varies for dragons and although she might be a tiny bit chubby, she's just a big girl. So thank you once again for all your help!
Yes I'm planning on sticking to the low numbers of insects, I'm trying to get her to eat woodies again (as they're healthier than crickets and the canned insects) but she doesn't seem to want them. I'm wondering if it's something to do with what you just said about Wally? She used to go nuts for her roaches but she's turning her nose up at these ones. Perhaps the breeder used different food for them?
She's slowly starting to eat more greens! Thank you so much to both of you for all your advice and recommendations!

That's horrible about poor Wally, I'm glad he's doing better now though and has someone as caring as you to look out for him!
A similar thing with Kilgharrah happened; she stopped eating for some reason and lost a lot of weight (when she was younger) and someone recommended Superwoems. I didn't really read much into them, besides the fact that they're slightly better than Mealworms. She loved them! Started eating again, so we had her eating them for weeks. Was just so happy she was eating again!!!
Don't beat yourself up about Wally, I did exactly the same thing with Kil.
It's just such a relief when they start eating again, that it doesn't occur what they're eating may be causing damage.
I'm sorry to hear about Wally's condition, that must be tough for him and for you to manage!
It'd be horrible to have something like that happen, and I'm sorry you're having to go through it with him but I'm sure you'll both get through it, and Wally's really lucky to have somebody who loves him as much as you do!

Haha no they certainly aren't! Unless you want to just leave them ornamental in the tank of course, but I don't understand how anybody would be able to do that considering their little personalities!
I'd love to take Kilgharrah out shopping! Most stores don't allow animals in them here though, so there aren't too many places I can get away with taking her.
It's always amusing to see how people react to them! Most of them can't believe you have a real lizard contently hanging onto your shoulder.

The babies are so adorable and little! But the adults are too, and they have more personality. I waited for ages for Kilgharrah to grow up so that I could put her on her harness (which was too big for baby her) and take her outside! My yards pretty big and there are heaps of places a lizard could hide, not to mention I get quite a few Crows and Kookaburrahs around which eye her off. I don't like to let her out without the harness as I'm worried something will happen to her.

Okay, thank you PatsyB! I give them her leftover greens which have been sprayed to provide water, but I'll make sure I start giving them more to provide food as well.

Thank you everyone once again for all of your help and suggestions! I really do appreciate it all.

 

[mxw0rld]

Hi Mak,

I really enjoy talking with you and getting to know Kil and Poppy better. Thank you so much for sharing. That is very kind of you. I have 1 cat who is very sweet with Wally the others just leave him alone but Misty seems to be gentle with him and every time they see each other Wally will lick Misty's nose!

You are so welcome! Just remember no 2 dragons are alike. Here in the states we don't have many size charts to go by so I've been making my own with Lacey, since we got her at 23 days old. We've been able to weigh her weekly and take pictures. But again how she grows will be completely different than another dragon.

As far as the woodies. If you are using the same person as you've always used then I would ask them what they use to feed them and if they ever change it up. After what I have gone through I have to ask. It's my first question. You can even tell them about Wally, Kil's friend in USA! So with the rest of these dog food roaches I thought I could feed them myself for a week or so and all the dog food would be gone. Well, he bit into 1 huge one, it squirted, which a lot of them do when they are gut loaded and that's a good thing. But as soon as this one squirted I could smell that smell. The dog food has a rubber smell and that's all it took was ONE! Back to the vets we go! Poor Wally has been to this vet more times than I've been to my own doctor this year! Lol

So if you do ever get some feeders that you want to do that with give it more than a week! At that point I said I'm done and I threw them in a tub and put them in our spare bedroom and shut the door and ordered him some of the good kind from California. The expensive ones. He didn't eat for the last 2 days and finally I got him to eat dinner last night. He ate 15! I was so happy that he ate, that I did give him a superworm! [emoji854]

I did want to say the canned insects are not as good for them as the live ones. We don't recommend them at all here in the states. I do know they aren't as nutritional as live insects and I'm not sure if they can dehydrate your beardie as well. I think I might have read that somewhere but don't hold me to that one. So you are doing the right thing by holding off on those.

Wow!!!! All I can say is congrats she is eating bits of her greens. A slow start is a great start! Way to go!!

Thank you so very much for all your sweet and kind words about me with regards to Wally. He's my miracle beardie! He keeps getting knocked down but fights through it!

I can't believe you did the exact same thing as I did with those superworms! People here call them candy for beardies! I don't do mealworms as I've heard their bodies are hard for them to digest. Wally doesn't need anything to bother his stomach!

I couldn't just leave them in their rooms (that's what I call their tanks). The other day Wally was hanging out with me (I have a small cat bed that I have a human heating pad wrapped in blankets & a basking light above) he sits in this while I'm doing emails and bills or whatever. So when it was time for him to get up (he sits for about an hour) then he gets up and wonders around. He got down on the floor and normally he makes a straight line for the porch door but for the first time he walked slowly but on his own back to his room!!! I was shocked. It was the first time he's walked back to his room by his self. Normally I carry him. These guys are smart!

We made a baby harness for Lacey! We took them both yesterday to get their greens!

Your backyard sounds lovely! Wally and Lacey would love it!

Lacey with her homemade baby harness on the way to get greens yesterday!

Wally from the other day!

Misty and Wally!