Missing the "Target" with Tongue

[DJnSoCal]

Greetings:

We have a new female ambilobe that has was cup fed and we would like to free-range her. My concern comes because she has difficulty hitting the "target" with her tongue. She seems to always strike above the target... as much as a dozen times before she gets very close and nails it. Sometimes she shoots her tongue when she is too far away.

She seems very healthy and is a voracious eater when she gets close enough. She has no problem taking food from our fingers at close range. Maybe with age she will learn to hunt? Does she have growing up to do or do you think something maybe wrong with her? I just wonder how long I should wait before being concerned. It is rare that any of our other chameleons ever misses the target... even the young ones.

Here is a short video of her, so you get the idea...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpv82YPlL38

 

[naich]

i would say its her eye sight.

all chams from birth are supposed to have picture perfect aim....i suspect sn eye issue....but lets see what the senior members say.

 

[Syn]

Does she have poor grip? Ever had any problems with mbd in the past?

 

[pr3mo15]

Start gutloaded with some carrots! Carrots have vit a which helps with eye site

 

[DJnSoCal]

Does she have poor grip? Ever had any problems with mbd in the past?

No, she is very healthy otherwise with a very healthy grip and moves very well. She is quite a little beauty. She is only about 4 months old. This is the only "glitch." Maybe it is because she was cup-fed as a baby up until she came home with us? Just wonder how concerned I should be or how long to wait... I'd be okay switching back to cup-feeding, but I'd prefer to have her free-range.

We gut-load with a variety of food and feed a variety of insects.

 

[Syn]

Perhaps you should cup feed until you can find out what the problem is, so she doesn't accidentally shoot at something and get stuck and hurt herself.

 

[KevinA]

Try cup feeding with only 1-3 feeders so you can see if she does better in the cup. Or try a few stationary feeders at longer distances.

It looks like she's hitting in the same spot each time, so it would leave me to belive that it's either eye sight or her toung is not streched out so it looses form on longer extentions.

P.M. Sent

 

[sandrachameleon]

Has she always "missed the target" or did she slowly get less good in aim or was this a sudden change?

 

[pr3mo15]

My panther missed sometimes when he was around 4months....He then just started getting his aim down...He didnt miss A LOT though

Keep us updated on how shes doing!

 

[DJnSoCal]

Has she always "missed the target" or did she slowly get less good in aim or was this a sudden change?

We have had her for less than one week. Prior to that, she was cup fed. I think we may end up switching her out since the other chameleons in her clutch don't have the aim issue. It's probably just her little glitch.

 

[grantman40]

my chameleon that i bought 3- 4 months ago had that same problem and died today becuz of his eye problems i did all i could but wasnt enough

 

[DJnSoCal]

my chameleon that i bought 3- 4 months ago had that same problem and died today becuz of his eye problems i did all i could but wasnt enough

I'm very sorry to hear that. So sad... What happened? Was he not eating because he couldn't hit the target?

This chameleon eats voraciously... just takes a long time to get the food...

 

[critterguy]

I wonder if it happens to be genetic it would be unethical to breed this girl?

 

[DJnSoCal]

I wonder if it happens to be genetic it would be unethical to breed this girl?

Wow, we were just having the same conversation. Regardless, I think we will be switching her out for a 'different model.' Other than this issue, she is PERFECT! So sad...

 

[Klemins]

Seems like there's more going on than "bad aim". It could be a neural problem, calcium deficiency, etc. Do you know the conditions she was kept in before you got her?

 

[Syn]

Maybe you should take her to to vet for an x-ray. The tongue is shot out not by muscle but a bone, I believe. Perhaps the bone had curved over time from mbd, or something.

 

[kinyonga]

Although the bone could be weak its the muscles that shoot the tongue out....
http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=4

 

[DJnSoCal]

Seems like there's more going on than "bad aim". It could be a neural problem, calcium deficiency, etc. Do you know the conditions she was kept in before you got her?

She was raised by a local, respectable, breeder... but I have not seen the set-up. Ya, I think there is something else going on.

Maybe you should take her to to vet for an x-ray. The tongue is shot out not by muscle but a bone, I believe. Perhaps the bone had curved over time from mbd, or something.

I would hate to think she developed mbd at only 4 months of age... I believe she was well cared for before we got her. She is very active and alert. She can eat, but the food needs to be close.

I'm thinking this may cause her difficulties over her lifetime. Let's say she did get some sort of an illness, would this handicap be one more thing 'going against' her recovery?

 

[KevinA]

Hey guys,

The story behind this girl is a few months ago I had a female that was closing her eyes for unknown reasons. She was thin and slightly emaciated. I was really upset because she was one of the best looking ones and had really nice blue speckles so I nursed her back to health and force fed her for 2 weeks and she came back to normal and was totally fine. She stoped closing her eyes and I saw no cause for concern. She was cup fed, so she would always get the crickets on the first try when she was here.

I am confident now that there was permanent eye damage on this girl or damage to her tounge that was causing her to not feed on her own, but again, I did not see any symptoms when she was here within the past few months since her recovery.

I'm really sorry for giving you guys this girl, I had no reason to suspect she wasn't 100% as she fed fine out of the cup. I grabbed her at night to bring to the meeting cause she was the best looking girl at the time and had really nice blue speckles. All the other animals in the clutch were checked and do not exibit this behavior. I am replacing the animal and or giving a full refund if they want it. I will be keeping the little girl or giving her to Chameo, Inc so she can live a happly full life.

I hope this resolves they mystery, and again, I am truly sorry to have you guys get attached to the girl and then have to give her back.

Kevin

 

[DJnSoCal]

Hey guys,

The story behind this girl is a few months ago I had a female that was closing her eyes for unknown reasons. She was thin and slightly emaciated. I was really upset because she was one of the best looking ones and had really nice blue speckles so I nursed her back to health and force fed her for 2 weeks and she came back to normal and was totally fine. She stoped closing her eyes and I saw no cause for concern. She was cup fed, so she would always get the crickets on the first try when she was here.

I am confident now that there was permanent eye damage on this girl or damage to her tounge that was causing her to not feed on her own, but again, I did not see any symptoms when she was here within the past few months since her recovery.

I'm really sorry for giving you guys this girl, I had no reason to suspect she wasn't 100% as she fed fine out of the cup. I grabbed her at night to bring to the meeting cause she was the best looking girl at the time and had really nice blue speckles. All the other animals in the clutch were checked and do not exibit this behavior. I am replacing the animal and or giving a full refund if they want it. I will be keeping the little girl or giving her to Chameo, Inc so she can live a happly full life.

I hope this resolves they mystery, and again, I am truly sorry to have you guys get attached to the girl and then have to give her back.

Kevin

I was hoping someone on the forums would have a "solution" to her problem before we switched her out. Just looking for other options. She is really nice looking and the blue speckles are awesome! We are very satisfied with the health of your chameleons and will definitely get some more from you! Several mutual friends sing your praises... so no worries there! This isn't your fault... it is something that just happened.