We understand that a fat bearded dragon can be worrying for pet keepers. The latter may feel surprised and anxious at the same time if they notice their reptile pet often looking very tired and heavy.
Moreover, we have observed that some bearded dragon owners would feel panicked as they notice their fat bearded dragon appearing unhealthy and immobile. Keeping an overweight bearded dragon at home is certainly concerning.
After all, owners of these reptile pets should know that there is a chance that they could lose their beloved animal companion due to its excess weight.
Therefore, in this short online discussion, we want to help by educating bearded dragon keepers about how to deal with an overweight reptile pet properly. We also provided some useful insights on how to help fat bearded dragons get back to being in tip-top shape, looking better than before, and of course, happy.
5 SIGNS THAT A BEARDED DRAGON IS OVERWEIGHT OR FAT
We want to inform bearded dragon keepers, especially novice ones, that these reptile pets can get fat very quickly. This body function is actually normal, but owners should keep in mind that they need to help their fat bearded dragons stay healthy.
We want to educate our readers that, when keeping bearded dragons as pets at home, they need to ensure that they copy these animals’ natural habitats for them to thrive. In the wild, fat bearded dragons are seldom occurrence.
After all, these undomesticated animals would not find food for several days. Hence, bearded dragons need to obtain energy from their fat deposits until they can acquire food again to survive. With this fact, they do not amass unnecessary weight.
This reality for bearded dragons must be copied by their owners, who keep them in captivity. Otherwise, fat bearded dragons are the result.
The following are the five indicators that the reptile pet is fat:
1. TAIL
If this part of a bearded dragon’s body is a little wobbly and looks very chubby, then we advise owners of this reptile pet that they need to help their animal companion lose weight.
After all, bearded dragons store fat in their tail’s base, and if this portion is thick, it tells that the bearded dragon is, indeed, unhealthily plump.
2. BELLY
A fat bearded dragon typically has a bulging belly. This swollen or distended abdomen is very noticeable and needs to be resolved by the owner as it is usually a sign of poor health.
3. ARMS
Bearded dragons can be overweight if pet keepers find bulging fat pockets behind their arms.
4. JOWL AND CHIN
Fat bearded dragons usually have bloated or distended jowls. When their owners look at them under a basking lamp, they will find their reptile pets’ chin fat, which is quite conspicuous.
5. SPINE
When a bearded dragon owner cannot feel his reptile pet’s ribs and spine, he can tell that his domesticated animal companion needs to lose weight.
These five tell-tale signs inform bearded dragon keepers to implement lifestyle modification for their reptile pets. Otherwise, critical health issues may arise.
3 LIFESTYLE PATTERNS THAT MAKE BEARDED DRAGONS FAT
Several factors result in fat bearded dragons. These lifestyle patterns of the owner and the domesticated animal are unhealthy for the latter and can be disturbances for pet keepers.
1. Unhealthy meal plan
Fat bearded dragons get fed the incorrect way. This technique usually consists of excessive high-fat foods like super worms, mealworms, and addictive little bearded dragon treats.
Additionally, overweight bearded dragons reach such an unhealthy state as they do not get to eat green vegetables regularly.
2. Sedentary lifestyle
Bearded dragon owners fail to keep in mind that they should emulate their reptile pet’s lifestyle in the wild. They give their lizards an inactive lifestyle with decreased energy expenditure by keeping them in small tanks or tanks of incorrect sizes where they cannot dig, hunt, and be physically active.
We discourage enabling bearded dragons to travel or move just a few inches from the hide hole for bearded dragons to the other side of their artificial habitats. This lifestyle pattern prevents bearded dragons from getting sufficient workouts, making them obese.
3. Uninformed owners
We understand that new bearded dragon owners may need more information on how to take care of their reptile pets. However, some pet keepers are too busy.
Therefore, they are usually unaware or misinformed on how they should properly feed their bearded dragons. They may blame the liquid vitamins they supply their reptile pets for the latter’s obesity.
Plus, these pet owners merely want their bearded dragons to be happy, resulting in overfeeding these lizards, consequently making them overweight. When a bearded dragon becomes fat, adverse effects are suffered by both the owner and the reptile pet.
NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF BEARDED DRAGON OBESITY TO BOTH PET AND OWNER
Similar to human beings, we want to educate bearded dragon owners that obesity or being extremely fat or overweight is highly risky for the reptile pets. We have observed that some bearded dragon keepers do not mind their domesticated animal companions being fat.
Some of them even find their fat bearded dragons cute. Nevertheless, we advise bearded dragon keepers that overweight reptile pets can lead to expensive veterinarian consultation bills.
These fat bearded dragons are also very much open to serious health problems. They should not be overweight because they can become vulnerable to health concerns like vital organ dysfunction, prolapses, and dystocia.
Above all, these reptile pets can have a shortened lifespan, which we are sure is very much an undesirable and discomforting scenario pet keepers wish not to experience soon.
3 EFFECTIVE WAYS TO HELP OVERWEIGHT BEARDED DRAGONS SLIM DOWN
We advise bearded dragon owners to consult their veterinarians on how to aid their reptile pets in shedding unnecessary weight to become healthy. We also have the following three tips:
1. Use a large plate when feeding plump bearded dragons.
This method makes the reptile pet occupied, and its body becomes challenged to consume the food. It is healthier than the common practice of using bowls that facilitate easy, quick, and greater food consumption that often leads to obesity.
2. Eliminate foods that are high in fat and sugar content.
Fat bearded dragons can slim down by not eating feeders that are actually high-fat larvae. These unhealthy foods consist of black soldier fly larvae, mealworms, and other kinds of worms that make bearded dragons plump.
3. Speed up weight loss by feeding the reptile pets with dark, leafy green vegetables.
Increasing the percentage of dark, leafy green vegetables, flowers, beetles, and gut-loaded insects can help fat bearded dragons lose weight faster. We recommend cutting down these kinds of food and spreading them out more on the large plate.
In this way, overweight bearded dragons will find it challenging to consume these nutriments, facilitating them to eat less and longer, subsequently leading them to become trim. Bearded dragons can, indeed, gain weight fast.
However, we believe that plump bearded dragons’ owners can get rid of the worry if they learn about the abovementioned guidelines on managing their reptile pets’ health.
By following this article’s tips and insights, pet keepers can expect their fat bearded dragons to become healthy again, looking great, living long lives, and keeping their owners always in a cheerful mood.
