my chameleon has problem with his tongue

[marbles]

i bought my chameleon (marble) about a week ago i fed him lettuce but then i read online that he will die if i only feed him lettuce. i live in saudi arabia jeddah and i can't find any place that has neither gut loaded crickets or just crickets for sale.which is why i cought a couple of house flies and some moths(i read about which moths are ok to feed to the cham) the problem is he won't eat them or he can't. marble stick his tongue out about and inch and just when he is about to catch the fly he pulls it back in like e can't stick it out more. please help me i don't know what to do I'm traveling to america in march and I'm planning on buying him vitamins, calcium and crickets from over there but what should i do know??? please help.

 

[Lathis]

Hi - welcome to the forums. We had a new member from Saudi Arabia last year, I think, who got a chameleon and was told by the pet store to force feed him tablets. When she realized this was totally wrong and her chameleon became very sick, she tried desperately to find him food and supplies. If I remember correctly, she was not able to locate crickets or roaches for sale, and tried to catch wild bugs. Unfortunately, her chameleon did die.

Can you get any live bugs at all? Superworms (morio), mealworms, any type of live bugs at all? Even if you can get a small amount, you can start a breeder colony and hopefully establish your own food supply. You can gut load your own crickets with fruits and vegetable scraps.

I doubt you will be able to purchase live insects overseas and bring them home with you. Customs will likely not allow that.

Keep catching flies and moths - it's better than nothing. Moths you might be able to catch more at night. Hold the moth close enough that he can grab it directly. If his tongue is having troubles, it is likely due to poor nutrition before you got him or being dehydrated.

How do you water him? Chameleons like moving water - not still water. Do you mist him or let water drip?

Here are a few general resources for you:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/

Let us know if we can help you, but getting live bugs is the most important thing right now. Is there an animal vet that might be able to help? Do you have a fishing supply store that sells live bait like worms?

 

[Lathis]

You might also get in touch with a local private zoo or someone who does animal rescue. They might have some ideas.

 

[jajeanpierre]

i bought my chameleon (marble) about a week ago i fed him lettuce but then i read online that he will die if i only feed him lettuce. i live in saudi arabia jeddah and i can't find any place that has neither gut loaded crickets or just crickets for sale.which is why i cought a couple of house flies and some moths(i read about which moths are ok to feed to the cham) the problem is he won't eat them or he can't. marble stick his tongue out about and inch and just when he is about to catch the fly he pulls it back in like e can't stick it out more. please help me i don't know what to do I'm traveling to america in march and I'm planning on buying him vitamins, calcium and crickets from over there but what should i do know??? please help.

I know how difficult it is to find things in KSA. Try a pet shop, not the pet souq. There are a lot of pet shops in Jeddah. A zoo would be another option. I used to know the guy who ran the Riydah Zoo, but even if he is still in the Kingdom, it's really far. I still keep in contact with the former director of The Falcon Center. He might have some contacts in Riyadh, who could direct you someplace in Jeddah.

Meal worms will do in a pinch and I am sure you can find meal worms.

Cockroaches would also be a good food but they would have to never have been exposed to pesticides, and you know how freely they use pesticides there. You might want to set up a breeding colony outside your house that is protected from pesticides.

When I lived in KSA, I did a lot of shopping on the internet.

Good luck.

 

[Lathis]

I know how difficult it is to find things in KSA. Try a pet shop, not the pet souq. There are a lot of pet shops in Jeddah. A zoo would be another option. I used to know the guy who ran the Riydah Zoo, but even if he is still in the Kingdom, it's really far. I still keep in contact with the former director of The Falcon Center. He might have some contacts in Riyadh, who could direct you someplace in Jeddah.

Meal worms will do in a pinch and I am sure you can find meal worms.

Cockroaches would also be a good food but they would have to never have been exposed to pesticides, and you know how freely they use pesticides there. You might want to set up a breeding colony outside your house that is protected from pesticides.

When I lived in KSA, I did a lot of shopping on the internet.

Good luck.

JaJeanPierre, can you share some of the places online that ship to Saudi Arabia? If this comes up again, it would be helpful to have a record of those places on the forum.

Thank you for helping!

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons!

What species of chameleon is it?
Can you post a photo please?
If you don't have calcium powder you can boil egg shells to kill any bacteria and when they are dry smash them to a fine powder and give a little to your chameleon every day on some food.
If it's a veiled chameleon you can give it some greens such as collards, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, kale and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato as well as the safe insects you can collect. I don't know what insects live there so I can't tell you which are safe.

How are you watering it?
Does it get any exposure to UVB?

Without a proper diet it doesn't surprise me that it can't shoot its tongue out properly.

 

[jajeanpierre]

JaJeanPierre, can you share some of the places online that ship to Saudi Arabia? If this comes up again, it would be helpful to have a record of those places on the forum.

Thank you for helping!

Some companies simply won't ship to Saudi Arabia. I never could understand why. Sometimes I thought it was because they had a contract with UPS and couldn't or wouldn't use the postal service. Or maybe they were just too lazy to fill out the customs form. I might be inclined to email first to see if you can get them to ship to KSA.

I bought a lot of things over the internet. I had an American company ship two 200-pound parrot cages from it's manufacturer in Europe to me in Saudi Arabia. There were some things that couldn't be shipped from the US to Saudi Arabia, but they were things like electronics that could be used for anti-American activities. As long as the company will mail it, it isn't hard to get things shipped. If the supplier wouldn't send it to a foreign country, I would just continue my search and find another supplier.

If I were trying to get reptile supplies in Saudi Arabia--or any other Third World country--I would use the same supplier as I would here in the US or a European supplier. I'm sure a pet shop could order stuff in for someone, too.

I hope that helps.