Over the past couple of days, I've been doing a few things differently with Sam, and her wait is really strating to improve...she's also having much more frequent bowel movements. This is basically a rundown of what I've done/been doing:
-Less food, more heat. I've noticed that she'll fill herself up to the brim. I've pretty much concluded that in her old neglectful home, she was fed infrequently (though was still fat because she could barely move in the 10 gallon tank and had hardly any heat), so now she has the mind set that "I better fill up now, because I don't know if I'll eat again soon". I also upped the heat a little, so that the hot spot is around 130-140 instead of 125-130 like before...I've noticed she basks more now.
-I make sure to let her out every day to do her business...as most of you know, she also has a strange mindset that she doesn't want to go in her tank...probably because of the cramped living conditions she was in previously. Anyways, I let her out, let her do her business (which means I have to keep corralling her onto the newspapers), the put her back in.
-3-5 minute bathes each night. It's only a short time in the tub, but it helps, and probably not as much because she was in the water, but more that afterwards she has to bask even more to dry off.
I'll keep up the routine and see what happens. Once she gets down to the right size, I might have to cut one element out (probably the daily bathes), in case she keeps slimming down more... a uro that's way too thin is probably a little worse than one that's way too fat.
I'll keep you updated on how it all works out. She's a special needs pet, but she's definately worth the extra work.
