Issues with Cham's Tongue

razzloe

New Member
My veiled Chameleon is almost a year old, and recently she has been having issues with eating. Her tongue is not able to shoot out as far as it used to (only about an inch). she is having to get up very close to her food in order to catch them. I'm wondering if this could be a symptom of dehydration or if it is something more. I just returned from being in Europe for a month, so perhaps while I was gone she was not getting enough to drink. Any thoughts before I take her to the vet?
 
Google vit B deficiency in chams, its the normal cause of tongue length problems if the problem is not from trauma.
 
My veiled Chameleon is almost a year old, and recently she has been having issues with eating. Her tongue is not able to shoot out as far as it used to (only about an inch). she is having to get up very close to her food in order to catch them. I'm wondering if this could be a symptom of dehydration or if it is something more. I just returned from being in Europe for a month, so perhaps while I was gone she was not getting enough to drink. Any thoughts before I take her to the vet?

this blog entry will provide you with some information:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/232-tongue-troubles.html
 
Our chameleon, Leonard, has the same problem, likely due to calcium/vit B deficiency before we got him (he's a rescue, and already had the problem when he was in the rescue facility) - we have to hand-feed him by pulling his gullet/throat flap down, and popping the worms/crickets into his mouth.

Make sure you are supplementing with calcium and a multivitamin. Also make sure you are gut-loading your crickets and worms (either with commercial gut-load, or with babyfood, or with purreed veggies with calcium). Variety is key.

Your cham is young enough that this may be reversible. Our cham is fully grown, and we could very well find ourselves hand-feeding him for the rest of his life...

If your cham is dehydrated, first try enticing him with a drip system (e.g. a cup with a pin-hole on top of the cage). If this doesn't work, and you are misting him 2x daily at least, then you might have to syringe-feed some juice. You can add a little calcium powder to this - we use Kern's papaya juice (NEVER use citrus).

I think we might live right across the river from you - your profile says you are in Portland. We are in Vancouver, WA!
 
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