3 months old cham with amputated tongue - I need advice

[Filip82]

Hey guys/gals
I'm a newbie to the chameleon scene and I have a cham with a big problem - she had an accident and had to have her tongue amputated 5 days ago.. since that she hasn't eaten much, some fruit mush and water which I give her with an injection (orally).. she disliked all of it, trying to bite me and hissing (before the accident she always came on my hand on her own, as soon as i opened the door - she connected me with food i guess) Since yesterday she refuses to swallow anything i try to give her.. i noticed the water coming out of her nose, which freaked me out a bit.. as if she does not want to eat anything.. maybe she is in pain.. today i showed her a cricket, which were her fav food until the accident and she tried to grab him with her tongue and obviously that didnt work. how do I go about teaching her to eat/grab food with only her mouth not her tongue?

 

[Filip82]

She is on antibiotics and painkillers also, so that hopefully she doesn't get an infection and she isn't in too much pain.

 

[JacksJill]

You can try pushing the cricket in her mouth when she opens to strike. Once it is in her mouth she will probably swallow it. I wouldn't expect much success until the amputation heals.
Just to help others what kind of accident did she have that made the amputation necessary. I know this has happened to others. Some even bite off their own tongue by accident if it gets tangled up.
I can't remember who, but a member here has been feeding their cham this way quite a while. Hope they see this and can advise.

 

[kinyonga]

Does she act as though what's left of the tongue is uncomfortable in her throat?
Was the tongue amputated at the end of the hyoid spike?

I would place a cricket between her teeth when her mouth is open while she's drinking. Shoving it in could make her choke. When mine had a tongue amputated I always held the cricket a few inches away from the chameleon so it could see it then if it didn't move towards the cricket I would slowly move the cricket towards the chameleon. They usually figure it out quickly....unless the tongue wasn't amputated close enough to the end of the spike.

 

[alphakenc]

I would suggest to cup feeding with her since she has problem with her tongue,she will learn to lean in the cup and scoop up the feeder with her mouth open.
Start training her to cup feed since she is only 3month old so she can get use to catch the feeders with her mouth,otherwise u will have to hand feed her for the rest of her life which is a responsibility on the daily basis.

 

[kinyonga]

All of the ones that I had that were missing their tongues figured out quickly to run after the insects like other (non-chameleon) lizards do.
The only one that I had feeding problems with was one that the vet didn't amputate the tongue short enough on and it struggled to be comfortable with the part of the tongue past the end of the hyoid spike as that part flapped around and wouldn't settle in the throat comfortably.

 

[Filip82]

The accident happened when feeding with tweezers... she grabbed onto them (it had happened before about 5 times but she always let go of them) and wouldn't/couldn't let go and she pulled back with her body. I should have released them this time I guess :/

Does she act as though what's left of the tongue is uncomfortable in her throat?
Was the tongue amputated at the end of the hyoid spike?

Yes, the tongue was amputated at the end of the spike, no flesh is attached - only the spike is visible. The first few days she was doing a strange move it looked as if she is going to puke.. I think this was the unfamiliar feeling or pain also..

She ate her first few crickets today though.. I showed it to her and then slowly moved the cricket closer to her.. She tried to grab it like before but then she just opened her mouth and I was able to drop it into the mouth. I'm very glad and its the 1st time after the amputation that I really feel that she is going to make it.. Though it will take her some time to learn to pick them up by herself I guess because she has been hand fed since her birth. I am going to wait a bit before putting them in a cup but as I have gathered it's best to do it as fast as possible.

Sorry I didn't answer earlier and thank you all for your replies.

 

[JacksJill]

The accident happened when feeding with tweezers... she grabbed onto them

This isn't an rare occurrence. Their tongues are very delicate. Some get wrapped around things when striking or even stuck to very smooth surfaces. It could happen to anyone.
I'm so glad she's figuring how to eat with your help. Good work!

 

[WAMBO]

Good luck

 

[Andee]

I also recommend cup feeding and hand feeding like you are until she gets used to feeding without her tongue. It is definitely something that happens more often than it should but often few things that can prevent it, especially if you are hand feeding with tweezers. When I hand feed, I use my fingers and if they miss a shot and hit my finger and won't release well, I always allow them to chomp on my finger and the insect, therefore they don't injure their tongue. Hurts very much for me for sure XD but it's worth it. I never recommend tweezers/forceps even if it's the only way your cham will hand feed at the time. It's not worth the possible dangers.

Your girl should be able to adjust I think. The reason the stuff came out of her nose when you did the oral liquids is because you didn't put the syringe far enough back in her mouth most likely and some went in her air way. Chameleons have an airway up under their tongue and closer to the front of their mouth. Therefore when giving them liquids orally, either only do it on the outside of their mouth or do it so that the tip of the oral syringe is past the back of their mouth. She is young so the 1 cc/ml syringe is the best for this. They will make a kind of gagging motion most likely but it's just them trying to get it out of their mouth, they aren't actually going to gag.