# Bearded dragon - Beer belly



## roadhog (Feb 13, 2008)

hi all,

my dragon seems to have a really fat belly! he eats around 40 drickets a day on average, i normally feed him till he has had enough within 15minutes. he has veg aswel. he seems a nice size over all by he does have a bit of a belly on him. he tends to like standing up on two legs resting agianst the wall a lot and this is when i notice it hanging over.

i just wanted if this is ok or if im feeding him to much? his arms and legs seem to be lean, he has a nice firm round base on his tail which i know is a good sign for being well feb but i was just curious if this was all ok.

Cheers

Liam


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## Redhill Reptiles (Feb 22, 2009)

just remember he should be having more veg than livefood now ( if hes an adult) One of my beardies is prone to a beer belly, it all seems to go their. My male on the other hand can eat as much as her and still have a small belly.


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## Sanika (Dec 3, 2011)

roadhog said:


> hi all,
> 
> my dragon seems to have a really fat belly! he eats around 40 drickets a day on average, i normally feed him till he has had enough within 15minutes. he has veg aswel. he seems a nice size over all by he does have a bit of a belly on him. he tends to like standing up on two legs resting agianst the wall a lot and this is when i notice it hanging over.
> 
> ...


 
Your beardy will have serious issues digesting all of that. 40 locusts a day? Is the length of the locusts the same as the width between the eyes?


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## glennwbp (Apr 28, 2011)

i believe the op said crickets not locusts????


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## hatchet harry (Mar 6, 2011)

feed them as much as they like. true, this time of year they generally slow down.

i do not believe in restricting food. 

if they dont want it they wont eat it. simple.


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## scotty667 (Oct 14, 2011)

Only the animal will know when they have had enough my 2 bearded dragon's can demolish a tub of locust's in one then i still chuck in another box for them and they have meal worm's and fruit and veg.


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## nicnet (Apr 3, 2011)

Its their 'budda belly' aka 'beardie belly' lol.

let him eat as he likes, but I would vary his diet a bit more. Crickets and veg alone wont be giving him all the nutrition he needs. Get him locust, roaches, mealies, morior worms, silk worms (if you like, althrough they are brilliant food)

As long as he's not gut loading himself on 'junk food' like waxies etc then he should be fine.


Speaking of gut loading, are you feeding up those crix he is getting for at least 24 hours before he gets them?


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## Reptor (May 2, 2011)

Redhill Reptiles said:


> just remember he should be having more veg than livefood now ( if hes an adult) One of my beardies is prone to a beer belly, it all seems to go their. My male on the other hand can eat as much as her and still have a small belly.


 yes their intake of veg matter is normally increasedas they stop their growthspurt buti haveseen with numerous dragonsthattheystill prefer live or veg ivonlyseen 2 that turn their nose upat live food and prefer to eat veg. it is always best to offer a varied diet butyou cant make them eat if they dont want to, saying that a high protein diet will cause kidney problems ifnot supplimented properly. i think beardies look great with their beer bellies they look contempt lol


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## Sanika (Dec 3, 2011)

Sorry but you should do abit more research. Many breeders will say they should eat as much as they can in 2 minutes... Some beardies will eat to the point they can't digest it properly - Mine is one of them.

As for the beer gut - The word all beardy owners hate... Impaction, Could be a possibility.

Also, check your temperatures of your vivarium, your beardy needs to be nice and warm to digest his food.

Best of luck.


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## Bexzini (Oct 21, 2010)

I personally dont believe in any of this 'eat as much as they can in 2/5/10 minutes a day' business. Who came up with this idea seriously. Think about the beardie in the wild... do you think someone releases food to them for a couple of minutes a day each day on the clock? I dont think so lol. Just give the beardie a nice diet spread out throughout the day as much as possible. Obviously if you have work like myself this will be more difficult, but its better to provide a spread out diet rather than all the food in one lump sum. 40 does seem like a large amount maybe cut this down if I were you, and provide as much variation as possible!


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## Sanika (Dec 3, 2011)

Bexzini said:


> I personally dont believe in any of this 'eat as much as they can in 2/5/10 minutes a day' business. Who came up with this idea seriously. Think about the beardie in the wild... do you think someone releases food to them for a couple of minutes a day each day on the clock? I dont think so lol. Just give the beardie a nice diet spread out throughout the day as much as possible. Obviously if you have work like myself this will be more difficult, but its better to provide a spread out diet rather than all the food in one lump sum. 40 does seem like a large amount maybe cut this down if I were you, and provide as much variation as possible!


Exactly that, in the wild they have to hunt for their food, it won't just be chucked into a vivarium for them to eat, thus making live food harder to get. How many beardies in the wild get to eat as much live food as they want every day - Without even having to move, or hunt for it?

Some research on Bearded Dragons is showing that in some cases, Bearded Dragons will rarely eat live food in the winter, some cases, they won't eat live food at all during the winter.

But... If your beardy is healthy and happy, obviously there is no need for you to change what you are doing.


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## Debbie1962 (Dec 5, 2008)

40 crickets may sound like a lot but it depends on what size they are?

Many beardies get a beer belly especially as they get older and move less, they just don't work off the fat lol.

Too much food should only be a problem if they start to get obese which leads to fatty liver disease and build up of fat around the face and eyes.

How old is your beardie?


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## Merritt87 (Aug 10, 2011)

40?? how much does everyone else feed there beardie? i feed mine 8 medium locusts his 9 months old and couple times a week water cress is that seem ok? 
ed


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## Curahee (Nov 6, 2011)

hatchet harry said:


> feed them as much as they like. true, this time of year they generally slow down.
> 
> i do not believe in restricting food.
> 
> if they dont want it they wont eat it. simple.



Completly agree.


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## nicnet (Apr 3, 2011)

Merritt87 said:


> 40?? how much does everyone else feed there beardie? i feed mine 8 medium locusts his 9 months old and couple times a week water cress is that seem ok?
> ed



Watercress couple times a week? O_O

Nowhere near. he needs a full salad making up daily. They get most of their water from their veggies so its vital they have a good choice of veg to eat. They also get bored of the same food fairly fast and will just stop eating it till you give them somethign else. 

Something to read.

Nutrition Content


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## scotty667 (Oct 14, 2011)

Merritt87 said:


> 40?? how much does everyone else feed there beardie? i feed mine 8 medium locusts his 9 months old and couple times a week water cress is that seem ok?
> ed


Go to sainbury's and get one of their mix vegtable bag or something or once a month buy a bag of apple's bannana's and of course the usual fruit and veg.
The apple's and bannana shouldn't be given to them everyday as it give's them the run's i learnt this way.


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## Debbie1962 (Dec 5, 2008)

> They get most of their water from their veggies so its vital they have a good choice of veg to eat.


They do also get some water content from their insects but yes there will be more moisture from veggies.


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## mariex4 (Oct 19, 2009)

saying that my bd hardly eats veg now, he prefers marios , ive tryed giving just veg but nope he dont want it , ive tryed putting marios in with the veg and he just pics out the marios and spits the veg out . some will eat veg some wont . it depends . ive tryed slicing it, cutting it into chunks but the little bugger wont have it xx


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## Bexzini (Oct 21, 2010)

mariex4 said:


> saying that my bd hardly eats veg now, he prefers marios , ive tryed giving just veg but nope he dont want it , ive tryed putting marios in with the veg and he just pics out the marios and spits the veg out . some will eat veg some wont . it depends . ive tryed slicing it, cutting it into chunks but the little bugger wont have it xx


Mine is the same I put morios in to encourage her to eat, thinking the movement of the veg or even accidently eating it will encourage her to eat it! But nope, nothing works lol


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## Debbie1962 (Dec 5, 2008)

Unfortunately some just won't touch greens/salads, we can't starve them to death so if insects is all they will eat then that's what they get.

My oldest beardie is about 9-10 years old, I bred him myself, and he has hardly touched greens since he matured. He still seems to be going strong, well I think he's feeling his age a little but then aren't we all lol.


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