I did this necropsy last night. Reproductive issues is unfortunately THE MOST COMMON cause of death in female lizards. Things can go downhill really fast in these types of cases. This girl had an egg lodged in her pelvis. Reptiles only like one hole for everything, so having a stuck egg means that she’d be unable to get rid of waste as well, leading to rapid infection, organ failure, and shock.
What really gets me is the fact that the owner thought she was a normal shape even though they were aware of the fact that most captive reptiles are fed incorrectly. This lizard didn’t quickly become that shape, as if it was due to being gravid. She’s been obese for a long time. So many lizards I see posted on Facebook are overweight, as are so many large constrictors and even milk snakes where people seem to use the excuse of “they’re naturally thicker bodied” to turn their snakes into snausages the same way people like to claim their giant breed dogs aren’t fat “they’re just large dogs!”
Why is OP fat shaming…healthy at any size
For fuck's sake...
I really hope that last commenter is being sarcastic.
Comparing a post about the unfortunate results of overfeeding a lizard with fat-shaming is one of the most ridiculous leaps I've seen in a long time. Some real mental gymnastics going on there.
This poor lizard DIED HORRIBLY AND IN PAIN as a result of complications of obesity. Complications that could have been avoided if they were maintained at an appropriate weight.
The effects of obesity in humans and those in other animals are simply not. the. same.
Humans can be overweight but still relatively healthy, as can some other species like bears etc. etc., but that is not true for all species, and the weird Internet trend of extrapolating someone's thoughts on one issue onto another very different issue is completely out of place.
This isn't the same as causing emotional distress to a person by criticising their appearance/physique, but rather is pointing out that in some species, obesity can have complications that do not occur in humans, and can be avoided by preventing obesity - which is their keeper's responsibility to do, so they should be educated on this - which is what this post is doing.
Not all species store fat the same way, and different species have specific optimal body compositions.
As an example, bears and humans are relatively large and have plantigrade gait... By contrast, cats are digitigrade and are small, light and built for agility and flexibility. Obesity in cats causes early onset arthritis and severely limits their mobility and flexibility, and prevents them from grooming properly so they get issues with matter fur and other hygiene issues can arise. These are issues related to the anatomy and physiology of cats, and have a negative impact on their quality of life. An obese cat who can barely move, can't climb or jump or generally just be a cat, is in constant pain from arthritis and has uncomfortable/painful matted hair from being unable to groom... That's a serious quality of life issue.
This lizard would not have had egg production stimulated without such extensive obesity - it was the egg getting stuck that killed her, and she certainly would have suffered from straining so hard she ruptured blood vessels and bled internally.
There was no need for her to die that way, but if more people know the risks, they can prevent this from happening to their lizards.
THAT'S what this post is about, not "fat shaming". It's about knowing more on these issues so people can do better with regards to the welfare of their pets.
The owner knew overfeeding can occur and cause issues, but evidently didn't know ENOUGH to recognise it in his own lizard and do something about it which would have avoided this.
There's so much of this "stop fat-shaming them" attitude around with regards to pets online that it's genuinely harmful.
Obesity is NOT the same for all species, and in some it either puts them in constant pain with very limited mobility, or outright kills them like this poor lizard. People posting videos of morbidly obese cats... I'm not talking here about slightly chubby kitties, I'm talking about actual obesity - which seems to be getting increasingly accepted as OK. That doesn't happen by accident, and that extreme is not just due to an individual being "naturally heavier" . That doesn't occur overnight, and clearly could have been addressed long before that point - but wasn't.
That's not cute, it's just fucking sad and neglectful.
SUFFERING IS NOT CUTE.
Cats are good at hiding pain, but arthritis HURTS, and typically they respond by being less mobile... So people just say/think they're "lazy". Years ago, people would have been shocked at how overweight some cats and dogs are in some of those photos or clips, but now people just call them "chonkers" and say they're cute.
If people find chunky critters cute, go look at pictures of seal pups or bears or pigs etc., rather than overfeeding species that are seriously not built for the extra weight and suffer additional problems from it because of their specific physiology.
Promoting it is irresponsible and unethical.































