Need advise? 6 Month old Male Veiled Wont eat anymore!

[Ten hut]

Its not his throat as he can technically swallow, but he can't manipulate his tongue to get the food from his mouth down to his throat. He has tried to pickup several small worms we got for him, but all he would do is pick them up, crush them, and then spit them out after a few minutes. Also he will grab small pieces of kale from us, but he just chews it up and ends up with it stuck to the roof of his mouth. He really struggles to hold or move around anything in his mouth.

Vets seen him twice now and says he's definately injured his tongue somehow.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed he gets use of his tongue back, but not holding my breath. That's why I post this to get advise from anyone else with similar situations. Vet says its unfortunately a pretty common problem in chameleons, but there's not much information that I've located on long term care for chameleons with tongue problems.

 

[Elizadolots]

We've had multiple stories here about chameleons who have lost their tongues. If the tongue is so damaged it is hindering eating, amputating it might be an option to consider. Once that tongue it out of there, they can learn to pick insects up with their mouth like other reptiles. You would probably want to cup feed to make the process easier.

If you follow this link: https://www.chameleonforums.com/tongue-stuck-out-mouth-73336/index3.html#post686805 you'll find two posts from moderators who have had chameleons lose tongues (Olimpia and the previously mentioned Hoj). I'm sure both would be happy to offer you advice if it comes to that.