is something wrong with my chameleon? I need help!

[paulj]

my chameleon has had some problems. first he had a calcium deficiency because i wasn't told i needed to give him supplements but I have got him back to good health or at least i think he is. i had to hand feed him for about a month. now he is climbing all around the tank and his tongue is not swollen. he is eating crickets on has own now which is great but he is having a hard time hitting them. this is the problem, when he goes to shoot a cricket he always misses when he shoots a distance and still sometimes misses from about 2 inches away. in addition he still holds his mouth open even though his tongue is not swollen and his jaw is solid. sometimes when he tries to shoot a cricket a long distance away his tongue goes limp and falls straight down to the ground instead of shooting toward the cricket.

there's got to still be something wrong with my buddy but i don't know what i can do so please help!

 

[Eltortu]

There is a section on this forum on how to ask for help. Do a search and fill out the info asked.

 

[Dawniegirl]

go to... https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ Copy and paste w/ your answers under this thread. There are a lot of good experienced cham owners on here w/ very helpful advise and lots of knowledge. I'm having issues myself w/ my Diego, being a newbie and all, & have already gained a lot of info from this forum. The only fast advise I can give, being a newbie, is something I've heard on here... might wanna check your temps, sometimes they keep their mouth open when too hot to cool down.

 

[jr andrade]

Sounds like nothing a vet can help really your probably just going to have to stick to hand feeding...if he misses its most likely because his eyes or theres something wrong with his tongue, are his eyes fairly clear and full(not sunk in)?

 

[kinyonga]

If the calcium isn't in balance yet, it could be affecting the tongue....but I don't know why the tongue would be going limp. Could he have injured it in some way? Calcium not only affects the bones but the muscles too...and the tongue function relies on both bones and muscles...but I doubt that the tongue would be limp if other things seemed to have improved.

What did you do to get the calcium back in balance?

I think I would take the chameleon to the vet.

(BTW...if the tongue hangs out and doesn't retract, make sure that you keep it moist and get to the vet asap.)