Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got an unwanted beardie. She is a sunfire morph, and is WAY fat. What is the best way of bringing her weight down? Also, does she need to eat every day, or twice a week or so like my leopard geckos? I figure it probably won't be the best thing for her to eat worms, at least for now. Will just leafy greens take some weight off safely? And could she go outside in a safe enclosure during the day? It's around 95 - 100 degrees right now (Texas).

Thanks!
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Yup, I'm Bubba's mom!
Aussie: Buddy
Leopard Geckos: Sherlock, Mickey, Ysabella and Leia

You should post a picture or his length and weight.

95-100 ambient is really too hot and he will just want to dig or hide to cool off which kinda defeats the purpose of being outside.

I don't think I would cut out live food completely. Just cut down to just a few items 2 or 3 times a week. I would also try to give him a much exercise as possible.

OK, got some pics this morning! The first one is an "above" view of her belly. The second one is as she's basking. She's about 12 inches long, nose to tail tip.

One more question: can you tell from the first picture if that's her original tail???

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Yup, I'm Bubba's mom!
Aussie: Buddy
Leopard Geckos: Sherlock, Mickey, Ysabella and Leia

Thanks for the pics.

1st off BD's don't regrow lost tails and that is the weirdest tail I've ever seen. It looks like it tapers to a very short length which is very odd. Maybe you can post a better picture.

A weight would be great since 12" length isn't much help. Maybe a snout to vent length would be a better measure.

My initial impression is that the tail is thin at the base for a big dragon like that. Also her legs seem very thin.

12" total length just doesn't seem right to me with the picture. Maybe post a picture with someone holding her to get an idea of scale.

Have you considered bringing her to a vet?

Her tail IS very short, I thought. I'll get another pic as soon as I can, to show length.

And yes, I HAVE thought of taking her to a vet. In fact, she has an appt. this week. That belly just does not look normal to me at all. Do beardies get cryptosporidia?
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Yup, I'm Bubba's mom!
Aussie: Buddy
Leopard Geckos: Sherlock, Mickey, Ysabella and Leia

Yes but it's not common. What are do you live in?

>>Yes but it's not common. What are do you live in?

I'm in the DFW area. I've got a really good exotics vet, so no worries there!
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Yup, I'm Bubba's mom!
Aussie: Buddy
Leopard Geckos: Sherlock, Mickey, Ysabella and Leia

The tail looks like it has been damaged at some point in the past...but hard to tell.. The body does look distended and tight...but the usual areas of the body where fat is deposited are absent. I don't think this dragon is over weight, but there is definitely something not right about it.

The vet trip is a very good idea. It may have retained eggs, tumors, worms, swollen organs or other internal issues we can't see from the pictures.

In typical bearded dragons the overall tail length is just a little more than the nose to vent length or a little less on average (something like 1.1 x the StV length, or .9 times..I just can't remember which it is off hand but it is close to half and half)
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PHLdyPayne

>>The tail looks like it has been damaged at some point in the past...but hard to tell.. The body does look distended and tight...but the usual areas of the body where fat is deposited are absent. I don't think this dragon is over weight, but there is definitely something not right about it.
>>

That's what's weird. The belly is distended, but not tight. My experience is with snakes and leopard geckos (the beardie is isolated right now, btw!!), so I'm not familiar w/ beardie behavior. But she eats OK, not a lot, but some. I've given her leaf lettuce with carrots so far. She'll come across her cage to eat, too. And she moves around during the day, too. I just got her yesterday evening (she's a rescue), but I just know something's up with that belly.
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Yup, I'm Bubba's mom!
Aussie: Buddy
Leopard Geckos: Sherlock, Mickey, Ysabella and Leia

Here are pictures of her length (next to a ruler) and tail. As you can see, snout-to-vent she's about 6 inches. The tail, well, who knows???

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Yup, I'm Bubba's mom!
Aussie: Buddy
Leopard Geckos: Sherlock, Mickey, Ysabella and Leia

In December I took in a rescue that was also fat. His body looks much like your dragon. His belly is very soft and often it rests on the ground when he stands. It seems once they are fat and their skin stretches it never shrinks back. Mine has been to a vet and it's just the way he is and he seems Ok with it.

Definitely good to get him vet checked.. this new picture looks like you can see his hip bones...maybe he was very fat before but lost weight fast...right now, other than the stomach, he looks underweight..

The tail looks like it suffered some sort of damage some time ago, either unshed skin constricted half of it then was removed but the tail suffered damage, or something else happened and its full of scar tissue...hard to say.

As for the food you are feeding, leaf lettuce is next to useless as a stable food source. Carrots should just be very few.
www.beautifuldragons.com has a good nutrition list with best foods to give dragons
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PHLdyPayne