Hello Marcia!

This study has broth me to make many changes in regard to my feeding, what I formally tough was healthy weight was in fact chronic obesity, reptiles are submitted to weather cycles that allows then to use stored fats (lipid’s). I do not wish to sound technical and boring, but I feel you need to understand the reason that got me to this point, therefore a little biology is required, Then I will tell you what changes I have made to my feeding and husbandry.

Gular fluttering;
All lizards do this when they reach optimal thermal point, as you know lizards don’t sweat nor do they expulse water via cloacae, in fact there cloacae is designed to reabsorb fluids. 90% of there water loss is from there breathing cycle, the rest is mostly from the eyes.

Lizards require energy for all of the physiological processes of the body, These include muscular activity, nervous transmission, growth and reproduction. This energy comes from the process of respiration, the chemical breakdown (oxidation) of glucose, witch produces energy, carbon dioxide and water. Glucose is derived from the basic foodstuffs, witch are carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

The principle of gular fluttering is to lower the brain temperature, in basking lizards once flutter starts the water loss is 6-8 times faster then at rest, this is why having a proper basking is important, ideally basking should be on one face of a vertical log, allowing the lizard to squirrel around and move out of thermal stress, I use 25w bulbs as they don’t dehydrate air moisture yet allow 130f basking at 8in, lizards don’t use this temp often, they will mostly perch near the bulb at there preferred temps, still the air isn’t dry and very little gular fluttering. When saving energy in this manner it can be directed into egg formation.

How those this compare?

Well our captives fed on high fats, these accumulate in the fat bodies rapidly, once they start growing eggs tow thing happens, first the eggs don’t get good nutrients as fatty foods are not mineral rich, this makes for both week eggs and female. Secondly the body cavity of these lizards is simply too small to handle both eggs and fat bodies at the same time, therefore the lizard will try to compensate by accelerating there metabolism to burn excess fats, this is a vicious circle because the female needs good nutrients and therefore must keep feeding while at the same time metabolise unwanted fats, from hear on her liver is over taxed trying to process all this empty lipids, the egg and fat mass is constricting her organs, blood flow is altered leading to farther complications. Of course we cant visualise all this when its happening, but now we can prevent it.

For my large carnivores Iv stop breeding rats and I now do only mice, smaller foods are higher energy, rats have a much higher fat content then mice.

I limit my insects to regular mealworms, crickets, earth worms, I feed these wheat bran and carrots only, vitamins and minerals makes up for whatever nutrients they lack.
Summer time I will feed grass, clover and dandelions to my feeders.

Egg producing females make better use of minerals then lipids, they develop eggs in times of plenty, therefore food must be abundant, abundance is reflected by smaller preys, other types of reptiles will gorge on very large meals witch they will digest a long time, but not tree lizards they need steady supply of smaller foods, otherwise its wasted energy.

To your question? Yes fatty liver can be at fault even if their was no more fat bodies, it only takes a few days to burn these if a female stop feeding or metabolises faster, this would tax the liver even more.

I remember from your photos, at on time your females clearly showed both full term eggs and fat bodies, lipid’s have no nutritional value, these empty fats weakens the immune system, the eggs and female have no resistance to bacteria, general septicaemia is a possible outcome.
rgds

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