Eating problem. Well, idk.

[Celtics4Lifee]

I don't now if its a problem or not. When I feed Eva, she will go up to a cricket and eat it. Like her mouth is touching the cricket then she shoots it. And when she does shoot from a close distance she misses. Like most of the time. Is it normal?

 

[ReptileLove18]

its not normal for her to miss it when she shoots it.please copy and paste this form into your reply filling in your answers so that we can see if their are any husbandry issues that could be causing this https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[sandrachameleon]

nope. She should be able to shoot from distance.
tongue issues can be for a number of possible causes. I suggest you answer all the questions in the "how to ask for help" questionnaire, and that may help us advise you.
in the meantime, check out this link:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/232-tongue-troubles.html

 

[Celtics4Lifee]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 7.5 old female vieled chameleon. Had her for almost 3 months.
Handling - Never.
Feeding - Crickets, mealworms, and wax worms used to give butter worms ? Flukers cricket diet. Feed Eva every other day. Alternating between worms and crickets.
Supplements - Zoo-Med ReptiCalcium w/o d3, Flukers Calcium with d3 and Rep-Cal Herptivite every 6 weeks
Watering - Zoo-med repti-Fogger, 4 times a day, 30 minutes a time. Going to start misting again as well as the Fogger. Going to mist for 3 minutes.
Fecal Description - Urate is white and yellow. No, haven't been tested for parasites.
History - When cleaning cage, I left her unattended for 30 minutes and she climbed off the plant onto a ledge in my room. She fell when I tried to get her. She fell about 5 or 6 feet. Landed on the carpet. Is moving good now.

Cage Info:
Cage info- Zoo-med repti breeze, 18x18x36
Lighting - Zilla Compact T8 UVB Hood, using the tube that came with the fixture. Lights on at 7 off at 7.
Temperature - Basking spot is 80-85, the coolest part of the cage is about 70. Ambient temp is 75. Using a thermometer/hygrometer for ambient temps and humidity. Using a thermometer with probe for basking temp. I'm using a thermometer with probe, it's made for aquariums though.
Humidity - 30% to 80%, using Zoo-Med Repti-Fogger, using Zoo-Med thermometer/hygrometer.
Plants - Yes, 3 ft. Ficus
Placement - Near the corner of my room next to a window. Air vent nearby but isn't blowing at the cage. No fan. Not a high traffic area. Top of cage is about 5' 10".
Location - Houston, Texas.

Current Problem - Eva has missed a couple of her crickets when she tries to shot them. Walks up to crickets to eat them. Been a while since I've seen her shoot from a distance.


Pictures are helpful

 

[ReptileLove18]

shes 7.5 months or 7.5 years old?

how old is the uvb bulb? they stop producing uvb at about 6 months so they need to be replaced every 6 months to keep your chams healthy!

you use the supplements once every six weeks? in my opinion the tongue issues could be caused by this supplementing schedule as tongue issues can be caused my nutritional/supplementational issues. the recommended supplementing schedule for veileds is calcium without d3 at nearly every feeding (since you are feeding her every other day i would do it every feeding), calcium with d3 once every 2 weeks and a multivitamin once every 2 weeks.

also, mealworms are generally used only as treats, a few a week tops as they are fatty and hard to digest. this blog goes over different feeders and how much they can make of your chams diet https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

the flukers gutload is not the ideal gutload so i recommend checking out this blog, also by sandra, it has a great gutload recipe that will give your feeders a the most nutrition possible to pass onto your cham https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

 

[Celtics4Lifee]

7.5 months. Had UVB for 3 almost 3 months. I use plain calcium every feeding.

 

[ReptileLove18]

okay so your supplementing is good, i was confused by the answer in the help form, im sorry!

how long has she been missing like this?

 

[Celtics4Lifee]

About 2 weeks.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Is she really 7.5 years old? or do you mean months?

I agree you need to gutload better. The Flukers stuff far from ideal. First ingredient is corn (useless). It also has soybean (not good), wheat, meat and fish meals (not ideal). Its okay to use it, so long as you also add in good vegetables (which can be your hydration source for the crickets).

I suggest improving the feeder prey choices as well. Keep the mealworms (which you also need to gutload) down to 10% of the diet, dont use waxworms at all, go back to including (again gutloaded) butterworms periodically. Add in other feeder prey options so that no single choice makes up more than 40% of the diet. Good options to consider are captive bred terrestrial isopods, roaches, silkworms, and termites.

Did the tongue trouble happen suddenly two weeks ago, or has is slowly gotten worse over time?

 

[Celtics4Lifee]

Suddenly 2 weeks ago. Maybe it's i bought the flukers thing and thought it was gutload. She's 7.5 months old.

 

[sandrachameleon]

If it happened suddenly, its likely due to injury. Perhaps she hit her tongue on something pointy, or it wrapped around something a bit. You could take her to the vet for a look-see, rule out other possibilities. If its like a strain, it will hopefully get better on its own. that she's managing to eat fine regardless is good.