Unsticky tongue...?

[laurahlove]

So this may seem weird, but I think my brothers new panther chameleons tongue isn't sticky, or whatever you would call it. He will go after a cricket, and actually get it, but it won't stick to his tongue. It makes me sad

Is there something that makes a chameleons tongue sticky? Is there something I can do to help fix it?

 

[Lpsouth1978]

A chameleons tongue isn't really sticky. The end of the tongue is like a club with kind of a suction cup. When the tongue hits a bug it flattens and then grips the insect as the tongue is retracted and returns to its somewhat concaved shape. If he is having trouble catching prey there may be any number of things causing it, including a deficiency of some sort. Someone with more knowledge on these things mat come on and give some more info.

As always, if in doubt, a trip to a good vet with chameleon experience can never hurt. I hope you figure out the problem and he gets better soon.

 

[Lovereps]

The 2 things I'm aware of that cause a cham's tongue to not stick to bugs are
1) Too little water. Even mild dehydration can affect the stickability
2) Excessive supplement dust on the feeders

The cause of the dehydration should be found and corrected.
Is the enclosure too hot?
Change to a lower wattage basking bulb.
Is the environment too low in humidity?
Increase the frequency and/or duration of mistings.
Add a dripper to allow more opportunities to drink.

Feeders should only be lightly dusted with supplements, rather than being ghostly.

You may wish to help your brother and his cham out by printing out this forum Panther caresheet, which lists proper temps and humidity, etc. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/
It gives good, sound directions for keeping a Panther cham healthy .
The other info in the Resources section of the forum gives plenty more info about a variety of things that all chamkeepers need to know.
Every Resources page has links to the other pages on the lefthand side.