Meruke needs to go on a diet!

[Vegasarah]

I still have my giant new Male Meruke- I wish my scale didn't break so that I could tell you how much he weighs. He's 23 inches long, and it's not ALL tail like other Merukes. But he is visibly over-weight. I think he has been fed a good diet, but too much of it. I think that he has been fed every day of his life for the last 3 years. So obviously he's a bit on the hefty side. His breathing seems a little heavy to me, and I think it's because of the weigh. He's got a double-chin thing going on too! I want to try and get him healthy even if I don't end up keeping him. Half of me wants to keep this guy because he's so large and his colors are really cool. Maybe instead of adopting him out I need to keep an eye open for a female Meruke? But I wouldn't want to do that til I knew he was healthy and wouldn't smoosh the female while mating lol!

I just wanted to know if anyone else on here has ever experienced this before? I've cut back his feeding to twice a week, but should I alter his diet at all so that he is getting more nutrition? How often should I supplement? Should I stick to greens and veggies with just a bit of dog food or can he still get dubia roaches/ phoenix worms?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Linnea]

cutting back on the feedings to twice a week is about as great as you can do it. cutting back more would make the vitamin/nutrient content very low, and that could be dangerous even if they can last very long on fat reserves.

they wont loose weight fast, and it wouldnt be good if they did, so just keep at it. make sure you dont give too much dogfood in comparison to the amount of veggies though.

no sweet treats. but theres nothing wrong with dubias.

a photo along with this would help. Meruakes tend to have a normal double chin without being overweight too sometimes.

i also have a bluey on diet XD

[Bluish]

I just bought a female in the same situation Vegasarah. She's a HUGE Merauke/Indo/Halmahera @ 1157 grams. .
Linnea's post sounds like a sensible way to correct the situation.

[Fatal_S]

You can cut back to less than twice a week. I usually feed my adults weekly. Sometimes I miss a meal, sometimes I feed 2x in a week.

You can feed smaller meals, and do use more healthy veggies than meat. You can still feed insects, just put the skink in a big bin so it has to chase the food down. Exercise is good. Exercise, healthy meals, and time

[LarissaLurid]

Do you have any pictures of the skink? How much does he weigh?

[Vegasarah]

Not sure how much he weighs, my scale was broken recently. I have my fingers crossed Santa will bring me a new one for Christmas! He just looks chubby to me. When looking at him from above his body is much bigger than his tail, and he has a double-chin thing going on.

That's a good idea about making him chase his food, I'm sure he would enjoy that. I try and take him out daily both for exercise and to help discourage brumation this winter. He remains active and basks a lot and is eating whenever presented with food. Been trying to give him mostly greens with just a bit of dog food mixed in with it to get him going and he seems to enjoy it.

I will try and get some pictures up of him ASAP showing off his plump-ness!