missing prey

[jkashyap]

hey guys... i have a jacksons cham... he is about 1yr and 1/2 old and he seems to be recently missing his prey... my setup is as follows....i see him drinking water and he is pretty active... and he eats, but has to get close... his diet includes, mealworms, superworms, some dubia roaches, mainly crickets...

cage type: arboreal (no glass)
cage size: 5'11" tall, 3' wide, 3' deep
Basking temp: around 90
UVB: Repti Sun 5.0
Watering: 3, 10 minute rain sessions and one hand mist

let me know if there is any more info needed...

 

[kinyonga]

When a tongue fails to extend the way it should it could be from an injury, MBD, or dehydration...or some people say cup feeding can lead to lazy tongue. It could also be caused by an infection.

http://www.adcham.com/html/veterinar...es-kramer.html
"Other symptoms of MBD in chameleons include a soft, pliable, rubbery jaw, a bendable casque, and tongue dysfunction."

http://www.chameleonsonline.com/illness.php
This site makes several comments in different sections about the tongue.

Does the UVB light pass through plastic or glass?

Do you dust the insects with a phosphorous-free calcium powder? Vitamins? D3? If so, with what and how often? Do you gutload the insects with a nutritious diet? If so, with what?

Do you see him drink?

 

[jkashyap]

i see him drink water a lot... i dust with rep cal phosphorus free and herptivite multivitamin, they get gut loaded most often with carrots... uvb passes through nothing... he had an infection in his jaw which he is recovering from, this could be part of it, i will ask my vet next time i go see him surely...

 

[kinyonga]

Your gutload could stand some improvement. I feed mine a wide variety of greens and veggies.

The jaw infection could be playing a part. If its mouth is sore, then it might hurt to shoot the tongue out fully. What treatment has been done with the mouth infection? How long ago did he see the vet?

Oops...asked you if you saw him drink without noticing that you said you did in the previous post! Maybe I need glasses! LOL!

 

[jkashyap]

he has been taking medicine for a while now, it went away and we thought it was gone but it started to come back, so we are about done with round 2 of med's and hopefully all should be well in a week or two, he seems to be alot more active and happier, hopefully everything is worked out, i might just get him checked for mbd on my next trip to the vet, should be in a week or two to get his final check

 

[kinyonga]

Did they not clean out the infected areas? If the usually cottage-cheese textured "pus" isn't debrided, then the infection will not go away. Even when it is debrided it can recur.

Also, the vet should have done a culture and sensitivity test on the "pus" to determine which antibiotic would kill the bacteria best.

The usual bacteria involved in mouth/jaw infections is Pseudomonas aeruginosa...and it can be hard to get rid of.

 

[jkashyap]

yeah i have faith in my vet... i am confident he did what he had to do, we have been seeing him very often and closely monitoring the cham... hopefully with time he will be ok, he is looking SIGNIFICANTLY better and his behavior is very normal

 

[kinyonga]

Hope your chameleon will recover quickly from the mouth/jaw infection!

 

[jkashyap]

thank you, i appreciate all your help, i will definitely pass all the information to my vet as possibilities...i hope all the best for him i am willing to do whatever it takes so he will be ok... thanks though!