Bad Aim?
- Thread starter yeyo
- Start date
sandrachameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
Yes, if the problem continues.
I encourage you to provide us with your responses to the "how to ask for help" questionaire (located at the top of this health forum section).
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/
You might find this blog entry informative:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/232-tongue-troubles.html
SSimsswiSS
Avid Member
Is he missing the target, or tongue not sticky?
Jono
New Member
I feel inclined to answer this as I've seen it come up a few times without any real resolution and I've encountered the same problem.
Overnight my veiled started missing his food. He showed no sign of ill-health or discomfort, just a sudden loss of precision when shooting feeders. Out of frustration he eventually stopped shooting and developed more of a short dabbing action. I tried my best to keep him shooting by tempting him with superworms but eventually the muscles in his tongue atrophied from lack of use and he stopped shooting altogether.
He is now 2.5 years old (1.5 years since), big and healthy but without the use of his tongue. My best guess would be he either pulled a ligament out of place or had a complication with his hyoid bone (he had fully recovered from MBD before I got him). It's really one of those things where, without symptoms of anything else being wrong, its almost impossible to say.
As for treatment, double check you supplements and feeders and try keep him shooting if he is not showing any discomfort. Also check his eyes, especially their orientation when he shoots. He might just be having an off day
Hope the little guys recovers!
Overnight my veiled started missing his food. He showed no sign of ill-health or discomfort, just a sudden loss of precision when shooting feeders. Out of frustration he eventually stopped shooting and developed more of a short dabbing action. I tried my best to keep him shooting by tempting him with superworms but eventually the muscles in his tongue atrophied from lack of use and he stopped shooting altogether.
He is now 2.5 years old (1.5 years since), big and healthy but without the use of his tongue. My best guess would be he either pulled a ligament out of place or had a complication with his hyoid bone (he had fully recovered from MBD before I got him). It's really one of those things where, without symptoms of anything else being wrong, its almost impossible to say.
As for treatment, double check you supplements and feeders and try keep him shooting if he is not showing any discomfort. Also check his eyes, especially their orientation when he shoots. He might just be having an off day
Hope the little guys recovers!Thanks for your answers and sorry I wasnt more detailed, I was posting while drivng to work ....Anyway, hes going to the vet tomorrow.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - All screen. 24x24x40
Lighting - Natural
Temperature - Hottest in the high 90'sF, lowest at night high 60'sF to low 70'sF, digital thermometer
Humidity - lowest Ive recorded is 50%, highest 99%, digital thingy
Plants - 1 hibiscus, 2 pothos, fake vines
Placement - Outside in the shade of palm threes, 0 traffic, top of cage about 6' from floor. Very little direct sun light.
Location - Caribbean
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Ambilobe, 11 months old, in my care for 9 months. His body w/o tail is about 8 inches
Handling - He loves to climb on my arm when I open the cage to feed. My head is his favorite spot.
Feeding - 3-4 crickets in the morning, same in the afternoon. Crickets gut loaded with everything...carrots, greens, sweet potatoes, oranges, potatoes, Fluckers Cricket Feed, Repcal cricket food. I give him about 3-4 mealworms per week and Ive seen him get baby anoles that get inside his cage.
Supplements - I dust the crickets 1-2 feedings x week, but I forgot the name of suplement and label is not legible (red cap).
Watering - Dripper during all day, stopped at night. 2 mistings each day at feed time
Fecal Description - Dark brown with white tip
History - He's never had any illness and is very active.
Current Problem - Yesterday he missed his target 2 times while feeding. This morning it took him 7 tries to get 1 worm.
....Anyway, hes going to the vet tomorrow.Cage Info:
Cage Type - All screen. 24x24x40
Lighting - Natural
Temperature - Hottest in the high 90'sF, lowest at night high 60'sF to low 70'sF, digital thermometer
Humidity - lowest Ive recorded is 50%, highest 99%, digital thingy
Plants - 1 hibiscus, 2 pothos, fake vines
Placement - Outside in the shade of palm threes, 0 traffic, top of cage about 6' from floor. Very little direct sun light.
Location - Caribbean
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Ambilobe, 11 months old, in my care for 9 months. His body w/o tail is about 8 inches
Handling - He loves to climb on my arm when I open the cage to feed. My head is his favorite spot.
Feeding - 3-4 crickets in the morning, same in the afternoon. Crickets gut loaded with everything...carrots, greens, sweet potatoes, oranges, potatoes, Fluckers Cricket Feed, Repcal cricket food. I give him about 3-4 mealworms per week and Ive seen him get baby anoles that get inside his cage.
Supplements - I dust the crickets 1-2 feedings x week, but I forgot the name of suplement and label is not legible (red cap).
Watering - Dripper during all day, stopped at night. 2 mistings each day at feed time
Fecal Description - Dark brown with white tip
History - He's never had any illness and is very active.
Current Problem - Yesterday he missed his target 2 times while feeding. This morning it took him 7 tries to get 1 worm.
Tongue issues can be due to nutritent imbalance, injury, infection and maybe even handfeeding (lazy tongue)...hard to know which it is on here.
If its from a nutrient imbalance then its important to know what is in the supplements and whatever you gutload the insects with in the way of calcium, D3, prEformed vitamin A and phosphorus. These need to be in balance.
If its from a nutrient imbalance then its important to know what is in the supplements and whatever you gutload the insects with in the way of calcium, D3, prEformed vitamin A and phosphorus. These need to be in balance.
tkilgour
Member
I agree with Kinyonga. I have personally stopped hand feeding because I noticed that certain boys that were hand fed started to become lazy. They would not work hard for their food and their tongues would not shoot as far or as hard. Once I stopped hand feeding and went back to free ranging feeders, I noticed their tongues improve and they would shoot farther and harder and miss almost never. However, any one of the factors Kinyonga mentioned can cause this issue.
Hi all,
This morning he missed 3 times, until I put his food about 2" from him.
From my observations there's nothing wrong with his tongue. When the tongue hits my hand it feels strong, with power, and sticky.
What I noticed is that he's not 'locking in' on the target with both eyes. He looks at the target with the left eye, but the right eye is not exactly 'locked in'. There's no evident illness in the right eye, everything appears to be normal.
It's sad because I can see his frustration when he misses. He's like "damit WTF!?"
Anybody experienced this?
He's going to the vet this afternoon....
This morning he missed 3 times, until I put his food about 2" from him.
From my observations there's nothing wrong with his tongue. When the tongue hits my hand it feels strong, with power, and sticky.
What I noticed is that he's not 'locking in' on the target with both eyes. He looks at the target with the left eye, but the right eye is not exactly 'locked in'. There's no evident illness in the right eye, everything appears to be normal.
It's sad because I can see his frustration when he misses. He's like "damit WTF!?"
Anybody experienced this?
He's going to the vet this afternoon....
So, took him to the vet yesterday and I explained the problem.
He did a general check and checked his eyes and everything seems to be in perfect condition, until he did a fecal test.
He found 2 kinds of parasites, hookworms and something else. He explained to me that sometimes when the parasites are traveling inside the body, they can affect vital organs as well as the nervous system...
So that was his guess, parasites affecting his motor skillzzz. He gave the cham Fembenzole (sp?) orally and gave me more to apply .3cc every 2 weeks for 5 times. I have to take him back if the problem persist or if it gets any worse.
Our guess is that he got the parasites from eating the baby anoles.
The dude has not lost his appetite, is very active and the colors are normal.
He weighted 175g.
This morning I noticed he's not even looking at the target. I have to put his food about 1"-2" away from him.
I hope he gets well, pretty sad watching him getting frustrated.
He did a general check and checked his eyes and everything seems to be in perfect condition, until he did a fecal test.
He found 2 kinds of parasites, hookworms and something else. He explained to me that sometimes when the parasites are traveling inside the body, they can affect vital organs as well as the nervous system...
So that was his guess, parasites affecting his motor skillzzz. He gave the cham Fembenzole (sp?) orally and gave me more to apply .3cc every 2 weeks for 5 times. I have to take him back if the problem persist or if it gets any worse.
Our guess is that he got the parasites from eating the baby anoles.
The dude has not lost his appetite, is very active and the colors are normal.
He weighted 175g.
This morning I noticed he's not even looking at the target
. I have to put his food about 1"-2" away from him.I hope he gets well, pretty sad watching him getting frustrated.
Thanks for the good wishes everyone! I hope that the vet is correct and that the medicine works.
@ kinyonga - I wasn't feeding anoles. He's outside on a big mesh enclosure and I saw him hunt baby anoles that trespassed in his cage. I saw him do that 3 times, and probably did it many more times when I wasnt looking. Im buying a screen with smaller holes and replacing it.
@ kinyonga - I wasn't feeding anoles. He's outside on a big mesh enclosure and I saw him hunt baby anoles that trespassed in his cage. I saw him do that 3 times, and probably did it many more times when I wasnt looking. Im buying a screen with smaller holes and replacing it.
