female veiled cant shoot tongue

[deerhunter]

Hello I am a new member and hoping for like cases with positive results. My female veiled cham Plumper is approx 10 to 12months old she was eating fine about a week and a half ago and not eating I put in new crickets and she went down to eat them but tried to bite them I took her to the vet she is on baytril injections and syringe feeding her cat food 2cc a day and giving her neocalglucon any advice or experiences with this problem. Thanks

 

[ChameleonsTree]

I consider reptiaide better for feeding when they are sick...but not shooting the tongue can be a vitamin deficiency. Since she still tried to go bite it she still had an appetite.

 

[kinyonga]

As Chameleon Tree already said...if she was going after the crickets its not a matter of your chameleon not eating...its likely that she can't extend her tongue. Tongue problems can be due to dehydration, calcium deficiency, injury, etc.

Cats cannot convert beta carotene to vitamin A...so cats need preformed vitamin A in their food...thus any vitamin A in cat food will be preformed. Excess preformed vitamin A prevents D3 from doing its job and can lead to MBD. Did your vet say that it already has MBD?
http://www.blakkatz.com/dryfood.html

Perhaps you should go over your husbandry to what imbalances there are (if any) in what you are doing?

 

[deerhunter]

tongue

My vet probably doesnt know as much as my fellow cham lovers liddy at kammerflge told me to try ensure i dont understand the vitamin a or d3 any info will help dont want other problems with my oter chams should i stop with the cat food and do you think shell be a shooter again

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

I guess I'm wondering what the diagnosis was that prompted Baytril that is usually for an infection and neocalglucon usually for an onset of MBD and syringed food usually for a non-eater. Cat food makes me a bit nervous too. If you really did need to feed him with a syringe then Ensure would be ok with me since my very good vet had mentioned it before too. My vet (Dr. Greek) and the Kammers are well acquainted . If anything, I would be worried about an injury to the tongue or something stuck within its pathway. A qualified chameleon vet would have manually extended the tongue to look for clues to the problem. When a tongue stops working and doesn't just get shorter and shorter shots over weeks then it usually isn't likely to be vitamin or mineral issues but more often an injury or obstruction.

Check out these vets:
http://www.herpvetconnection.com/illinois.shtml

Post some good, clear photos of him and his setup.

 

[kinyonga]

Dave said..."I guess I'm wondering what the diagnosis was that prompted Baytril that is usually for an infection and neocalglucon usually for an onset of MBD and syringed food usually for a non-eater."...well said Dave.

deerhunter said..."i dont understand the vitamin a or d3"....the four main players in bone health are calcium, phosphorous, vitamin D3 and vitamin A. These need to be in balance for the chameleon to have good bones. Imbalances can result in MBD.

When looking at achieving a balance, you need to take into consideration what she is eating, what you are supplementing the insects with and what you are using for gutload.

One more thing that can play a part in bone health is temperature. Inappropriate basking temperatures can affect digestion and thus absorption of nutrients.

Insects generally have a poor ratio of calcium to phos...dusting the insects with calcium is meant to make up for this.

Exposure to UVB light either from direct sunlight or UVB tube lights will allow the chameleon to produce vitamin D3 which is needed for the chameleon to use the calcium provided in its diet. The light should not pass through glass or plastic. If the chameleon only gets exposure to UVB tube lights, then it may need a little extra D3...but be careful not to overdo it because D3 from supplements can build up in the system and cause problems.

Preformed vitamin A can build up in the system and result in an overdose but beta carotene sources won't build up. However, there is controversy over whether chameleons can convert beta carotene to vitamin A. Too much preformed vitamin A can interfere with D3 use and lead to MBD.

You said..."do you think shell be a shooter again"....if the reason for the inability to shoot it out is corrected/dealt with, then likely she will be able to use it again.

 

[deerhunter]

thanks dave I will get ensure and i gave plumper her last injection of baytril today I agree with you on the injury idea on the tongue because like i said in the original post it was all of a sudden she was a pig the weird thing is her tongue is the color of a liver dark reddish purple my male veileds tongue is pink I honestly think she is getting better but until i see it i just wont be able to sleep soundly. thanks a bunch paul

 

[deerhunter]

thanks kinyonga for the helpful info i personaly use mineral herptivite and repcal for dusting my crickets alternating each day as far as gutloading i use flukers the yellow jelloish stuff and feed them potatos apples or plums.thanks bud

 

[deerhunter]

i forgot to mention he said he does not see any signs of mbd her jaw very strong not rubbery and overall strength ok

 

[Stuey!]

well thats good, my stuey died of MBD... anyway lol, good idea to go see the vet and i hope she gets better. im a newb and have no advice