Porky Hammlet

MissSkittles

MissSkittles

Chameleon Enthusiast
For the past few months I’ve been getting concerned about Hammlet getting fat. It seems to have started when I gave him his double sized enclosure…maybe better vantage points for hunting his isopods? He gets fed the same as my other chams and he’s the only one gaining and getting fat. While I haven’t seen him actually eating his isopods, I do often find him on a low branch, looking suspicious. This week I added thicker leaf litter to prevent him sneaking iso snacks and have been giving him the smaller feeders and much less treats for a while now. He’s gained 6 Gms in the last month, so obviously now I need to take more aggressive measures. I want to make sure I do a diet for him correctly though and need some advice on that. He currently gets 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week. I’m thinking cutting him down to 2 feeders would be ok, but want confirmation it isn’t too drastic of a reduction. Also, what is a healthy weight loss rate? I’m guessing losing too much too fast isn’t a healthy thing.
Compimentary pics of my handsome tree pig.
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E979F17B-A988-405A-A485-C21606756B80.jpeg
 
bbyoda said:
I love your tree pig!! What a ham!!

I do two big feeders every 3 days for my boy and Dr. Bruce thought that was very healthy for an adult Vieled. If I do smaller roaches, BSFL, etc I do 3 feeders.
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I took Hammlet to Dr Bruce a few months ago about my concerns with his weight. He didn’t seem to think it’s a problem, but he’s gained weight since then.
kinyonga said:
Just like people...some are prone to being fatter than others.
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Oh I hear that! In my family going back at least as far as I can tell, there’s always one fatty per generation. Yeah…I’m it. (stupid fat genes)
 
MissSkittles said:
For the past few months I’ve been getting concerned about Hammlet getting fat. It seems to have started when I gave him his double sized enclosure…maybe better vantage points for hunting his isopods? He gets fed the same as my other chams and he’s the only one gaining and getting fat. While I haven’t seen him actually eating his isopods, I do often find him on a low branch, looking suspicious. This week I added thicker leaf litter to prevent him sneaking iso snacks and have been giving him the smaller feeders and much less treats for a while now. He’s gained 6 Gms in the last month, so obviously now I need to take more aggressive measures. I want to make sure I do a diet for him correctly though and need some advice on that. He currently gets 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week. I’m thinking cutting him down to 2 feeders would be ok, but want confirmation it isn’t too drastic of a reduction. Also, what is a healthy weight loss rate? I’m guessing losing too much too fast isn’t a healthy thing.
Compimentary pics of my handsome tree pig.
View attachment 317041View attachment 317042
Click to expand...
That’s one handsome fella with little cheeks……😍
 
Try not feeding any worms at all. The weeks my guys have worms they all gain weight. Try like three 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch crickets three times a week, for a few weeks and see if he loses. I will say that once their casque gets fat like that, it’s really hard for them to ever lose the weight there but you can get him in better shape. BTW, What does he weigh?
 
jannb said:
Try not feeding any worms at all. The weeks my guys have worms they all gain weight. Try like three 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch crickets three times a week, for a few weeks and see if he loses. I will say that once their casque gets fat like that, it’s really hard for them to ever lose the weight there but you can get him in better shape. BTW, What does he weigh? Hammlet’s up to 172 Gm. I’ll try giving him 3 smaller crickets and hopefully the thicker leaf litter will prevent his isopod buffet.
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Hammlet’s up to 172 Gms. I’d like if I could get him between 150-155 Gms, which is what he was right before I moved him and he looked perfectly fit. I’ll try cutting him back to 3 smaller crickets (or 2 roaches) and hopefully combined with more cover for the isopod buffet, he’ll start losing some weight. I hope he’ll lose of that casque puff, but as long as he’s healthy it won’t matter.
 
Beman is like that with weight... I will think I am doing great and he will gain 3 grams. I have had him on 2 small/medium feeders 3 days a week. I was told by someone else to try to skip one week a month. I finally tried that last month to see if it would jump start weight loss... He is sitting about 155 but he is not as long as Hamlet is. So for him that is chunky. I have not weighed him since then though. He has not wanted to come out of his house. I think he knows winter is here. :hilarious:
 
I’ve been thinking I’ve been feeding Hammlet the right amount…the same that I give my girls that has successfully reduced their egg production. Their weights have stayed pretty stable as have Jack’s. It has to be he’s eating the isopods. I’m going to try putting a camera in his enclosure to see if he’s hunting them.
 
MissSkittles said:
I’ve been thinking I’ve been feeding Hammlet the right amount…the same that I give my girls that has successfully reduced their egg production. Their weights have stayed pretty stable as have Jack’s. It has to be he’s eating the isopods. I’m going to try putting a camera in his enclosure to see if he’s hunting them.
Click to expand...
That sounds like a good idea!
 
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