Female Veiled with very damaged tounge!

[chamguy]

Hi, I am relatively new to this website since I have bearly used it, but i do have experince with reptiles and chameleons specificaly.

I apologize in advance. I do not have pictures.

Species- Veiled chameleon
Diet- crickets, small dubia roaches, and waxworms.

Lighting- UVB with basking lamp. 95 basking tmp.

Water- Mistings 2X plus aday with dripper.

Plant- Palar Palm with sticks for support.

Cage size- 2x2x4 ( for each female)
The females are WC but well acclimated.



I have 1 male and 2 female chameleons. The females are 12 inches in legnth snout to tail. I came home today to find one of the females tounge is stuck to a long, dead stem. Upon furthure inspection I find that the dead stem is acctually the tounge itself. The tounge was stuck to a brach furthur down the cage. I made the decision of cutting the dead portion off since it was obviously dried up and brittle. She appears "ok" now with no blood in sight. My only concern is how a chameleon will eat without a tounge. What remains of her tounge is 1.5 inches. Also how can I prevent this from happening to my other 2? What causes something like this?

Also, I know you may hear this often,but I do not have access to a vet that specializes in reptiles since I live in the country. Not even a petstore near by.

 

[camimom]

Im sorry she hurt her tongue.
SOmetimes it just happens.
There is another member on here whose cham bit off their own tongue, and the cham eats like a 'regular' lizard. meaning they just grab food in their mouth, kind of just like we eat regular food (not bugs).
You can try hand feeding, tweezer feeding, or placing food in a low dish that she can get her face in and get it real close to the bugs.

I hope this helps!

 

[Hoj]

my guy lost his tounge and he has ben able to pull through. i would reccomend a vet visit to have the tounge looked at for infection and other damage to the jaw and mouth, they may perscibe a antibiotic to help. my guy was reluctant to eat at first and had to be force fed for a few weeks untill he started taking crickets from my finger tips. i have continued to feed him every day by holding out the crickets and placing into his mouth when he opens it. also he now eats alot of fruit witch i believe aid in hydration and is easy for him to eat.
hope this helps a bit

hoj