Amy's Weight - Gravid or Just Fat?

[Miss Lily]

Oh dear! I weighed Amy today and I think she needs to eat even LESS food! She weighs 186g. I am hoping that she is working on a clutch of infertiles as she doesn't eat a lot - 1 or 2 food items per day yet she still puts on weight steadily. Can anyone tell from the pics - is she gravid? If she is then it's probably not the best time to put her on a diet. She doesn't look enormously huge like Lily did (she weighed 200g), and she is now 16 months old. Here's a few pics from today.

 

[FroggtheCham]

I can't help you with gravid/ not gravid, as Bean is my first female and she is only a couple months old. I remember your concern with weight cuz Lily was heavier, and large clutch sizes etc. I think she is a cute chubby girl , of course as long as she is healthy!!

 

[jamncristian]

I think she is a overweight, she might have an infertile clutch too

my reason for thinking she is overweight
is that her casque seems to bulge and correct me if I am wrong
I think it is a fat reserve, Ive read somewhere about storing fat there
hopefully someone else will chime in

 

[gary1621]

Peanut gets the same amount of food roughly, she gets 4 every other day but she doesnt look as chunky as Amy... I kinda wish she did sometimes

Amy looks lovely, she could be working on some eggs, if and when that happens you'll have a better idea
Maybe Portsmouth just produces larger ladies

 

[pssh]

Amy's casque does look full, but I'm not sure if it's quite the same as panthers. I would try feeding every other day with about 4 items and see what happens? Hopefully she is just a little tubby and isn't making a clutch. not until you finally decide to breed Tommy and her anyways

 

[laurie]

Hey Tiff I will join in, I think Jet may be working on a infertile clutch or she may be chubby, I never use the f*t word in front of my girls. Here are a couple of shots of Jet so we can compare. For those who don't know Jet is a quad

 

[jannb]

That is fat pads and I know the girls love to eat but for Amy's health you have got to cut back on her food.

 

[Miss Lily]

Thanks everyone for the input. I have a sneaky feeling that she is eggy at the moment. Her casque 'sinks' a bit when she's out of her cage. It's like it's puffed up with air - kinda like an inflated balloon that has gone down a little! I know she has chubby l'il cheeks! I can't really understand though, how more food less times a week is any better than 1 or 2 every day. Am I missing something? I must be doing something right though - she is super healthy and I have had her for longer than I had Lily and I was doing a lot wrong with her husbandry.

 

[pssh]

I think it has to do with their metabolism? Try only feeding 3-4 feeders three times a week. Pan gains weight faster when I feed him a little every day compared to when I feed him 3 times a week... I have no idea why he's like that, but I want him to grow slower so he will live longer! My last Cham was fed 2-3 times a week and lived for a very long time. I also didn't feed him for a week about three times a year so...

 

[Miss Lily]

Update - 2nd July '10

Well, I weighed Amy again today - she has gone down to 177g. She has only eaten about 3 or 4 waxies over the last couple of weeks, she won't eat anything else right now. She really has next to no interest in food and is VERY restless. The laying bin has been re-moistened but she doesn't pay it much attention. She would rather come out and sit with me! Every time she sees me walk past her viv she starts patting on her door! She's soooo cute! Now I just wish she would get on with things and pop those little white eggies out!