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04-24-2008, 09:54 PM
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Professional Poop Scooper
 
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Obesity in wild monitors
How detrimental is obesity in wild monitors and is it measured by a body mass index or some other calculation to figure out ideal weight of a monitor? I constantly hear how horrible obesity is in reptiles, but can not seem to find how much fat they should contain to live a long healthy life. I think simply "looking fat" should not be our sole indicator on a monitor's health.
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when I was little I dreamed of giant snakes and dragons.... now I live with them.
Dr. Ian Malcolm: "Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming."
Jurassic park
Monsignor: Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men." The Boondock Saints
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04-26-2008, 11:07 AM
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Lehrer und Forscher
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Re: Obesity in wild monitors
How is obesity detrimental in wild monitors? First of all, obese monitors, especially the males have reproductive problems when they are obese. These problems are due to the male’s inability to copulate with the female, to include being unable to maneuver properly. End result is that they do not reproduce. As far as health issues associated with obesity are concerned, the list is extremely long and well documented in a great number of species of reptiles (as well as other animals, including humans), all of which create an end result of a shorter lifespan. You are certainly not going to find any longevity records which include obese reptiles. If you want a method of measuring, the only one that I am familiar with is through dissection and measuring the mass of the fatty bodies in relation to the overall mass  Unless you want to do that, there is no other method yet except for going by how they look. I don’t see anyone doing a study on using body measurements to estimate fat content in monitors in the future; the main reason is that it would really not serve much of a purpose. I certainly don't plan on catching a bunch of monitors, making measurements then cutting them up to see fat mass to overall mass ratios.
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Michael
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04-26-2008, 05:58 PM
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Professional Poop Scooper
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Re: Obesity in wild monitors
Thanks Micheal, I have seen fairly old obese monitors 15+ years and large obese pythons even older, the record being 403lbs and 27 years old before she passed away. It seems like a topic that is very difficult to address as it is in humans.
Monitors in the wild seem to range from very visible hip bones to the plump ones you have pictured and all seem to survive rather well in all these sizes. How do we determine what is an appropriate size to maximize longevity?
I know for humans cholesterol tests help, but ultimately one usually has to have a heart attack or some other illness before being considered having an unhealthy amount of fat, unless they are morbidly obese where joints and respiratory are suffering. The BMI is another good indicator but many athletes, bodybuilders, doctors and models do not put a ton of faith in it either.
__________________
when I was little I dreamed of giant snakes and dragons.... now I live with them.
Dr. Ian Malcolm: "Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming."
Jurassic park
Monsignor: Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men." The Boondock Saints
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04-28-2008, 08:25 PM
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Professional Poop Scooper
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Re: Obesity in wild monitors
__________________
when I was little I dreamed of giant snakes and dragons.... now I live with them.
Dr. Ian Malcolm: "Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming."
Jurassic park
Monsignor: Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men." The Boondock Saints
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04-28-2008, 09:23 PM
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its just how i roll
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Re: Obesity in wild monitors
i was just sitting back and watching... its very interesting, but i dont have any input. uhm... **bump**
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-justine
1.1 colombian tegu
2.0 leopard geckos
0.1 pink-toe tarantula
0.1 fat tail gecko
1.0 blue tongued skink
1.0 ball python
1.1 savannah monitors
♪"...and on the ballroom floor we are in celebration, one last step before hibernation..." -dashboard confessional ♫
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04-29-2008, 07:32 PM
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Professional Poop Scooper
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Re: Obesity in wild monitors
Thanks Justine, this is something I have a hard time grasping. the "ideal look" is something that is hard enough to figure out in our own species let alone a completely different
__________________
when I was little I dreamed of giant snakes and dragons.... now I live with them.
Dr. Ian Malcolm: "Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming."
Jurassic park
Monsignor: Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men." The Boondock Saints
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04-30-2008, 01:03 AM
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its just how i roll
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Re: Obesity in wild monitors
yeah, its sort of a survival thing in some species, and was at one point considered so in our culture. fat is merely prosperous, so drawing that line is hard
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-justine
1.1 colombian tegu
2.0 leopard geckos
0.1 pink-toe tarantula
0.1 fat tail gecko
1.0 blue tongued skink
1.0 ball python
1.1 savannah monitors
♪"...and on the ballroom floor we are in celebration, one last step before hibernation..." -dashboard confessional ♫
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04-30-2008, 01:17 AM
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Professional Poop Scooper
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Join Date: Nov 2006
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Re: Obesity in wild monitors
I know in humans there are some guidelines but they are all debatable. According to many health facilities it is 21-24% for women and 14-17% for men.
I also know the brain in humans is 60% fat and will have complications if it drops below that. Here is some human reading, but I would love to hear what reptile keepers have to say.
Understanding Your Body Fat Percentage
What is a healthy percentage of body fat?
__________________
when I was little I dreamed of giant snakes and dragons.... now I live with them.
Dr. Ian Malcolm: "Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming."
Jurassic park
Monsignor: Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men." The Boondock Saints
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04-30-2008, 01:59 AM
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its just how i roll
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Join Date: Nov 2006
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Level up: 84%, 16 Points needed |
Thanks: 224
Thanked 116 Times in 102 Posts
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Re: Obesity in wild monitors
its all so debatable. for some reason theres a double standard, atheletes are considered the healthiest of all, and yet they do not abide by these "healthy" fat guidlines. so i guess until we start to measure the cholesterol (how the heck is that spelled??) in reptiles, we wont really know.
__________________
-justine
1.1 colombian tegu
2.0 leopard geckos
0.1 pink-toe tarantula
0.1 fat tail gecko
1.0 blue tongued skink
1.0 ball python
1.1 savannah monitors
♪"...and on the ballroom floor we are in celebration, one last step before hibernation..." -dashboard confessional ♫
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