My veiled chameleon kaipo is basically dying . I took her to the vet yesterday and she suggested euthanizing because her tongue is so swollen or I could attempt to nurse her back to health. I was given carnivore care to feed her because she is not eating or drinking on her own. the vet showed me how to open her mouth with a tongue depresser and put it down her throat. this has not been as easy as the vet made it sound or look. her tongue is so swollen that its really hard to get her mouth open and whenI do get some food in she looks like she's going into shock. every time I do it I think I just killed her. the last time she fell on her side and started moving around like she was in extreme pain. she won't eat it by me just pitting it in her mouth but this opening her mouth to stick down her throat just isn't working. Can someone please help me? I can not give up on her
help administering liquid food
- Thread starter kaipo
- Start date
NHenn
Avid Member
Sorry to hear about Kaipo 
To feed her the liquid, you will have to grab her right behind the jaw and she should open her mouth to bite you, then you can insert the syringe. If she refuses to open her mouth then you have to carefully pry it open as the vet did to get the syringe inside her mouth. It is an extremely stressful and unpleasant procedure for both you and especially your chameleon.
Carnivore care is a great liquid feeder but it won't fix her problems. Was she fine prior to the tongue swelling and able to live with her MBD? I only ask because I was there already with problems that just couldn't be fixed and all I could do it make their last few days as comfortable as possible
I wish you and Kaipo the best of luck!
To feed her the liquid, you will have to grab her right behind the jaw and she should open her mouth to bite you, then you can insert the syringe. If she refuses to open her mouth then you have to carefully pry it open as the vet did to get the syringe inside her mouth. It is an extremely stressful and unpleasant procedure for both you and especially your chameleon.
Carnivore care is a great liquid feeder but it won't fix her problems. Was she fine prior to the tongue swelling and able to live with her MBD? I only ask because I was there already with problems that just couldn't be fixed and all I could do it make their last few days as comfortable as possible
I wish you and Kaipo the best of luck!
fluxlizard
Avid Member
tap her gently on her nose or tickle her lips to get her to open.
I don't know how large she is, but if depending on size and syringes you have available, you can gently hold her by the base of her head and tilt her up and then slide the syringe all the way down her throat and into her stomach area, or if the syringe is too large for the lizard, use a bit of aquarium line on the syringe so you can run it in gently down past her neck so you don't choke her with the liquid food.
In my experience, the best time to assist feed is at night right after the lights go out. It will allow her to sleep the stress off and then have a stress free day until the next night's feeding.
I don't know how large she is, but if depending on size and syringes you have available, you can gently hold her by the base of her head and tilt her up and then slide the syringe all the way down her throat and into her stomach area, or if the syringe is too large for the lizard, use a bit of aquarium line on the syringe so you can run it in gently down past her neck so you don't choke her with the liquid food.
In my experience, the best time to assist feed is at night right after the lights go out. It will allow her to sleep the stress off and then have a stress free day until the next night's feeding.
Thank you all so much for your help and for responding so fast! We both definitely freak out at feeding time so hopefully it gets a little easier. she was fine living with her mbd. other than her swollen lumpy joints,until about a week and half ago. she started falling, not being able to eat on her own, her tongule basically fell out and all sorts of other terrible things. When the vet suggested putting her down it really upset me because I really don't f feel like she's too far gone to help. since the carnivore care won't treat her mbd, what should I do for that? Would it be ok to give her liquid calcium while shes getting carnivore care? I had been giving her 3 drops a day before the vet. she also told me she's too small for calcium injections and would die. Id definitely love to start getting her mbd under control as soon as possible. Seeing this sweet creature go through all this pain is so terrible.Thanks again for all the advice. I appreciate it so much.
Oh another thing that really concerns me.. she hasn't pooped in probably 2 weeks. Anything I can give her for that? Wondering where everything she takes in is going. nhenn, I'm so sorry about you losing your babies. wondering if mine is in the same boat. but yeah before the tongue got really swollen she seemed kind of ok. I hope her internal organs are still working right.
Psychobunny
Avid Member
I found the best way to get their mouth open is what NHenn said, grab your
cham, make sure the front legs are held to their side, place thumb and fore
finger just behind the jaw to so she cant move her head, and apply gentle
squeeze. One they know they immobilized and cant get away, they will open
their mouth.
But you have a swelling problem to deal with too! you have to get the syringe past that without aspirating her and getting liquid into her lungs.
I have never had to treat a cham for mbd, so I would need advise too on what
to give, but I know folks here on the forum have had success in stopping it.
It wont cure the damage that has already been done, but you can keep it for getting worse.
Now the hard part, only you can judge if the pain and stress becomes so much
for her, that continuing life would be cruel.
If you can just get that swelling down, that would be a great help.
Does your vet have experience with chams? if not, find one who does, and get
there advise.
But her prognosis does not sound that good
cham, make sure the front legs are held to their side, place thumb and fore
finger just behind the jaw to so she cant move her head, and apply gentle
squeeze. One they know they immobilized and cant get away, they will open
their mouth.
But you have a swelling problem to deal with too! you have to get the syringe past that without aspirating her and getting liquid into her lungs.
I have never had to treat a cham for mbd, so I would need advise too on what
to give, but I know folks here on the forum have had success in stopping it.
It wont cure the damage that has already been done, but you can keep it for getting worse.
Now the hard part, only you can judge if the pain and stress becomes so much
for her, that continuing life would be cruel.
If you can just get that swelling down, that would be a great help.
Does your vet have experience with chams? if not, find one who does, and get
there advise.
But her prognosis does not sound that good
Holding her jaw worked great. she opened her mouth right up. She seems to handle it way better. I also did what fluxlizard suggested and put aquarium line on the syringe. worked amazingly. I didn't realize I could go that far down
now I don't have to worry about it going in her lungs. I know she's in pretty bad shape but to me she's showing the will to live. 2 days before the vet she did shoot out her tongue and get a worm. she also made her way to her dropped for a drink. first time she did those things in a while. well the next day is when she shot out her tongue and it fell to the ground basically hanging by a thread. I thought the vet she went to had a lot of experience with cjameleons but when I was there everyone was coming in the room because they were so excited to see one. mainly a cat and dog place
I'm going to find a good exotic vet if she hangs on another 2 weeks until my next pay day. I'm basically a stay at home mom and work a little job 3 days a week. my husband won't give me any of 'his" money for this. he tells me this is ridiculous and a waste of money but it matters to me
now I don't have to worry about it going in her lungs. I know she's in pretty bad shape but to me she's showing the will to live. 2 days before the vet she did shoot out her tongue and get a worm. she also made her way to her dropped for a drink. first time she did those things in a while. well the next day is when she shot out her tongue and it fell to the ground basically hanging by a thread. I thought the vet she went to had a lot of experience with cjameleons but when I was there everyone was coming in the room because they were so excited to see one. mainly a cat and dog place
I'm going to find a good exotic vet if she hangs on another 2 weeks until my next pay day. I'm basically a stay at home mom and work a little job 3 days a week. my husband won't give me any of 'his" money for this. he tells me this is ridiculous and a waste of money but it matters to me
Not that I think the vet was totally unknowledgable about Chameleons but when I told her the tongue story she told me she thought she bit it off and that was one of her reasons for telling me to consider putting her down. I know for a fact that her whole tongue is still there. I think she just couldn't tell because its so swollen. its just a little. red and cauliced on the end but its been that way for a little while. she was saying when she got the worm the other day she bit part of it off. didn't Happen
Becky Sawitz
New Member
Romeo
Our 4 year old chameleon can't seem to open his mouth to eat or drink. He chases the crickets or worms all over, so he wants to eat but can't open his mouth wide enough to get his tongue out or the food in. This has gradually gotten worse over the course of a couple of months. Has anyone ever heard of or experienced this before? What can I do?
Our 4 year old chameleon can't seem to open his mouth to eat or drink. He chases the crickets or worms all over, so he wants to eat but can't open his mouth wide enough to get his tongue out or the food in. This has gradually gotten worse over the course of a couple of months. Has anyone ever heard of or experienced this before? What can I do?
Psychobunny
Avid Member
I dont think you want to hijack kaipo's thread.
I would suggest you start your own thread, you would get more responses
kaipo finally took a poop! Its been weeks since the last one. I saw on here that a drop of olive oil could help. I gave her a drop yesterday and nothing so I gave her another one today and she went! her poo was yellowish orange. I know that's not normal but I was just so excited she went. she seems more comfortable. not feeding her with the tube. in her throat anymore because her tongue is still so big I feel like it is irritating it more. since she went to the bathroom today she is willing to lap the food in. I mixed the carnivore caree so its very liquidy and I'm drolping it on the end of her tongue with a dropper. does anyone have any advice on what to do about her mbd? Is liquid calcium everyday all I can do? Her jaw is just so soft. her tongue is extremely swollen. Will it stay that way because of the mbd or is there something I can do to take the swelling down? I hope there's something I can do to make her more comfortable. I love her so much and I don't want to lose her. I know she has a long road to recovery if I can save her.
