Veild Cham Owner
Avid Member
Wait...so they don't grow back I am so confused.
Nails growing back?
- Thread starter Veild Cham Owner
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Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
I think Jann has only had experience with them being pulled out by the screen. If they are completely removed from the hand I can see it being a problem because they don't shed their nails and so won't be able to grow them back successfully. Even cats if you remove the quick will have a difficult time growing back a normal claw. So they 'should' grow back as long as the actual part where the nail connects to the hand isn't hurt. But with the really short ones I'd keep an eye on them.
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hmmm, I have had a few wc chams who arrived with blunt nails or who broke off the tip of the claw, and they never grew out over the years. They might have grown a tiny bit in length, but they stayed blunt enough that they didn't help the cham climb. One of my wc melleri had very blunt claws on her front feet (pawing on cages to escape?) and they stayed blunt. So, I don't know the definitive answer here...I wonder if it varies by group or genus? Age?
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Veild Cham Owner
Avid Member
Yea that makes sense. There is still nail and technically was not damaged, it was just cut. He is still a juvenile and has about a year b4 he is really fully developed. Thanks for the info.
Veild Cham Owner
Avid Member
Where their older or young chams?
Veild Cham Owner
Avid Member
MissLissa
Avid Member
I suspect that cham claws work a bit like bird of prey talons, in some respects (bird talons obviously grow much faster!). If you have a captive hawk that was kept on incorrect footing, it is likely to end up with blunted talons which makes it hard for them to perch properly, hunt, etc. If you take that blunted hawk and put them on proper footing, the talons generally will not re-sharpen themselves. Instead, we have to manually sharpen them like a kitchen knife before releasing them into a more appropriate enclosure, where they will be able to maintain their sharpness on their own (mostly). Improper wear patterns can definitely perpetuate themselves!
Now, I'm not saying every one go sharpen your cham's nails, but I can definitely see how if a cham is producing only a certain amount of keratin per month and is wearing that keratin away improperly due to a modified grip, it could be slow-going to fix the problem. Or, if the nail bed is injured, scarred, infected, etc, the nail is not very likely to grow back.
Now, I'm not saying every one go sharpen your cham's nails, but I can definitely see how if a cham is producing only a certain amount of keratin per month and is wearing that keratin away improperly due to a modified grip, it could be slow-going to fix the problem. Or, if the nail bed is injured, scarred, infected, etc, the nail is not very likely to grow back.
When the veiled cham is younger,their nail can grow faster n longer if u give them all the proper nutrition n supplement correctly,personally I think if the nail bed wasnt broke off completely n the veiled is not too old,The nail will grow slowly n it all depending on how much was damaged in the first place,but if the cham is in their older stage,the nail will never grow as original perfect conditions,and it probably wont ever grow back.
jannb
Chameleon Enthusiast
The guy I have now his nails were pulled put by screen but in the past we've had them just broke off and they never grew back. Also as they get older they have a tendency to wear down and they never grow back.
Veild Cham Owner
Avid Member
Got it, thanks for the help. I am pretty sure the nail bed was not broken but u can check in the picture of u think it was.
There is a hope then.
