feeding adult beardies

[Chris1]

my female beardies are just over 2 now, and one is horribly overweight, the other seems like shes a good weight, maybe a bit plump but eats way more than the fat one.

how much/often does everyone feed their adults?

up till now theyve been getting a medium sized green bean each 3 days a week, (monday and wednesday and friday) a few slivers of butternut pumpkin 2 days a week (tuesday and thursday), shanghai salad greens 2 days a week (sat and sunday), with as many roaches as they want on one of the 'greens' days, and diluted juice every 4th day. (1 part juice to 4 parts water,...so its not very juicy) and some small mealies here and there just cos they like them.

so my plan now is to feed them every second day and give them diluted juice every other day, cos they expect something in the mornings after their bath.

i get the fat one to swim fro 5-10 mins a day, and try and make her exercise by constantly pulling her off the window sill and making her climb back up.

how much does everyone feed their adult beardies?

and is it possible to over hydrate them?

from what i'd read on a US forum it dosent seem like i'm feeding them too much,...but how fat they are suggests otherwise.

 

[liasis]

i feed mine every second day i feed them choped up fruit and veg and wiskas singles cat food (the one in the little purple packet) make sure you only use the meat one and never use the fish ones if they are over weight i wouldnt be feeding them every day and i would feed them less it sounds like you spoil them way to much

 

[liasis]

post some pics of them

 

[Chris1]

i'll get some updated pics tonight and post them tommorrow.

yeah, they are spoilt but i dont have human kids so i have plently of time to spoil them.

 

[koubee]

Hehehe, this is a funny thread.

I feed my adult greens (shanghi salad mix or similar) everyday. She gets woodies every second day, won't even look at a cricket, She also has bearded dragon pellets every second day with her salad (the day she has no woodies).
My girl, Loki, was overweight a few months back and i found the main cause to be "ME" and my kids, as we would offer her something nearly everytime we passed her enclosure.
Now Loki is on a strict diet of woodies every second day and a good supply of greens.
I think but not 100% sure that the mealies really pack on the weight.

When Loki was on her diet she was only allowed Crickets and salad, which she hated but did eventually eat some.
Lot's of exercise too, Loki loves swimming.
Good luck Chris, I'll see if i can find any pics of Loki when she was "plump", and how she is now.

 

[Earthling]

Jenny Craig for beardies...:lol:

Feeding them woddies as much as they can eat would certainly assist them in gaining those extra centremetres. If you cut back to 4 or 5 each that would suffice.
As a matter of interest how many woodies would they eat before they were full?

 

[koubee]

here are 2 pics of Loki.
first one is when she was fatter, it's the tummy shot.
second one is when she is looking slimmer, i can notice the difference in her.

 

[Ozzie Python]

What do you mean when you say shanghi salad mix? is it a standard mix you get from herp shop or what?

I am looking into getting a lizard soon, once i'm educated of course, waiting on some reading material to arrive to do some research

 

[Chris1]

hey Liz, she looks so much better!!
how long did it take fro her to slim down like that?

Earthling, the roaches are only a once a week thing, the fat lizard has about 20 then walks away, the thinner one between 60 and 70,...and she'd eat more if i let her. i feed them off @ the 2nd last or last nymph stage and leave the ones that have managed to become adults fro breeding.

 

[Chris1]

oh, shanghai salad mix is from coles, it has mustard leaves, chard, beet leaves but no spinach (spinach is bad so thats a good thing).

its got a red label and is in a square box in the prepackaged salad section..

 

[Ozzie Python]

Thanks Chris- very useful info. Your a legend

 

[koubee]

Hey Chris, it took Loki about 2 months possibly more to slim down. I would suggest you cut back on the amount of woodies they are getting. Loki would be lucky to 20 per week.
I know the crickets helped in her weight loss.
i also have this reptile mix that i haven't seen before but they love it, it is called Vitakraft Reptile mix.
Good Luck with their weight loss.

 

[Chris1]

ok, i weighed them last night, Chub has put on almost 200g in the last 2 months, Bug about 150g, i guess cos i see them every day i didnt really notice it that much. they look horrible and i feel really bad about it

heres some pics, i didnt realise how fat the one that used to be thin had gotten,.

i woke them up to take the fotos, they can actually still move.

i will be majorly cutting back the woodies, and only feeding a bit of salad every second day, i dont wanna starve them completely cos i've read that fat being used up to quickly results in fatty liver disease and i dont wanna kill them.. ( http://www.anapsid.org/heplipidosis.html )they'll be swimming fro half an hour a day now and i need to find other ways to make them exercise as well.

i know that link isnt about beardies but apparently its the same fro them.

i'll take them to the vet in a month or 2 when they've lost some weight for a check up, i think he'd kill me if he saw them @ the moment,..

 

[liasis]

i just thought of a way you can make them exercise put crickets in a clear container and place it just outside their enclosure they will run back and foward trying to get to them when i feed my baby beardies crickets my adults can see their cage and run along the glass for ages trying to get the crickets

 

[liasis]

oh and good luck with them

 

[Chris1]

great idea!
thanks!

 

[reptalica]

Hey Liz, as mine was hatched on 3/12//06 does it matter how many woodies he/she has?? Or at that age it doesnt matter as it is still considered a baby.

This morning, for example, I cut up some mustard greens (home grown), coriander, a strawberry and a couple of grapes and endive.


Thoughts on too many or what for a beardie my age???

 

[liasis]

at this age they are growing and if they heaps of food they will grow faster as they get to adult size they dont grow as much so feeding them heaps wont be good you will also find that they will leave food if they are not hungry i just fed all my lizards and some of them only ate halfwhat they normaly eat

 

[MannyM]

Woah! Chris, chubs is HUGE! Seriously, that's a fat beardy. My girls at their heaviest only had big bellies, not double chins (i'll stop).

My girls were lean, and I fed them a mix of endive and butternut pumpkin every day, and woodies once or twice a week.

Stop spoiling your kids

 

[Chris1]

i am, theyre on a serious diet.

i didnt realise how out of hand they'd gotten til i put them on the scales last night and almost died when i saw what they weighed,...

they love eating, they're gonna have to learn to love exercising instead,..!!

i think i'm just gonna stick to greens, and ditch the beans and pumpkin fro a while,...and limit their roaches to maybe 5 a day 2 days a week for a while.

oh, and keep an eye on their weight, i'll start weighing them weekly again,..i'm as shocked as you are,...!!