Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My chuck has been putting on some weight lately. Just wondering if I am feeding him too much. I feed him 2x daily. A mix of greens and occasionally carrots and berries. Can I be feeding him too much? I know they are "fat", but just wanted to make sure I am not causing him to be too "fat".

Is he really overly fat or is he retaining water?

What specific greens are you feeding him? Do you feed him hard veggies like squash, peas, carrots, etc?

My chucks all looked bloated, and they had smears instead of droppings. I started grinding up grassland tortoise pellets, and their stools firmed up almost immediately, and over time,they didn't slim down, but the bloating went away. These are high fiber pellets and I think that chucks do not get enough fiber.

Winter squash and parsnips has a lot of fiber, though, but has a lot of sugar...and has less water than greens. maybe that's why because it's sugary food.

I think most hard veggies have less water than greens.

Maybe what is because of what?

I feed my herbivores winter and summer squash a few times per week, and parsnips now and then. I sprinkle ground up grassland tortoise pellets on their greens(endive, escarole, turnip greens, spring mix salad)every day and they are no longer bloated and obviously feel better.

You said they are bloated from water, so I thought it couldn't have been from the squash and parsnips, and other veggies because hard veggies have less water than leafy greens. So I said maybe it's from all the sugar.

I noticed my iguana's feces was always very compacted when it ate a lot of hard veggies, like, parsnips, green beans, winter squash and turnips.

I am not bloated. My chucks were, but they were not getting sugary foods. They were also not getting enough fiber, and generally don't in captivity unless you can feed them a diet much more natural than store bought greens.

No, I was talking about the other poster's chuck... [chuckle] Sorry for all the confusion!

Thanks for the replies. He is a pretty chunky boy. I'll take a pic tonight. I mostly feed him dark leafy greens and shredded carrots. occasionally, I will give him some berries as well. I have laid off the shredded carrots to see if it helps at all. his droppings are pretty solid, not watery and he acts healthy. Just dont want to plump him up too much..

But what specific dark leafy greens? Some are much better than others for chucks.

Carrots are good as occasional treats, but not every day.

I read that carrots are very sugary compared to other hard veggies...

Its a mix of baby greens. I am thinking it may be the carrots. I was feeding him them everyday. I'll try just once a week or so to see if it helps.

Baby spring mix is okay as part of a daily salad, but he needs better staples, like endive, escarole, or turnip greens. I also strongly recommend the ground up Grassland Tortoise pellets made by Zoo Med. They are made with field grasses, and many of them are grasses that chucks would eat in the wild.

The problem with spring greens alone is that they are inconsistent mixes, and often contain plants that are not as healthy because of their chemical make up, ranging from too much oxalate (spinach, possibly chard), to too much moisture content (various lettuces), bad phosphate/calcium ratio (red leaf lettuce) and even too much protein.

Oxalates-- bond with calcium and prevent calcium absorption, so too much of this can cause MBD and cause bladder and kidney stones which can become a slow death for your chuck.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bladder_stone_(animal)

Moisture content -- Causes chucks to retain fluid. Their natural diet is much lower in moisture than most captive diets

Protein, plant or animal (insect)-- NOT tolerated well in strict herbivores, and chucks are considered strict herbivores. Causes kidney damage and kidney stones if it is fed long term.

Here is a chart made by a tortoise expert, and since chucks share the same food environment, I think it is a good guide for chucks as well, with modifications. For example, I think that chucks can tolerate a slightly higher P/C ratio than torts, but not much higher.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bladder_stone_(animal)

Now, they do need more fiber than the typical captive diet, so for city people like me, I think the grassland tort pellets are a great start toward filling that need.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bladder_stone_(animal)

Sorry, I seem to have posted the wiki on bladder stones link instead of the tort chart. Here is the tort chart.
http://www.turtlestuff.com/avoidthese.html

I've read that parsnips has even less oxalate than dandelion greens and quite possibly the most nutritious vegetable in the world. And it has a lot of fiber. It's very good for you.

Thanks so much. I will order some of the pellets and try to get him a little more exercise. Although, he does come out at least once a day if not more.

I just took my chuckwalla to the vet for a routine checkup (fecal exam, bloodwork, etc.) The vet mentioned that he has a nice, healthy build and wasn't too fat. He said he often sees overly fat lizards because they don't get enough room to exercise. In the wild, chuckwallas (and other lizards) regularly walk, run and climb. In captivity, space is often limited and so is their activity.

I'm sure that diet is a big factor, too, as the other folks were discussing. But if you have the ability, you might also consider giving your chuckwalla supervised access to a bigger area so that he can exercise.