Not shooting his tongue

Johnny5958

New Member
My little Spazz is no longer shooting his tongue. Tonight he let his tongue go to catch a cricket and it just hung there and then after almost a minute he was able to bring it back into his mouth. He had gone through a bout of vitamin A deficiency, which we were able to get him to a vet and get him through that, but since then we have had to catch his food for him and use tongs to feed him. I am wondering if there is anything that can help him, or if we will have to keep feeding him the way we are now (which we are obviously going to do). Has a cham ever been able to regain the use of its tongue after something like this?
 
I have just looked at your previous post and I think it might be due to lack of calcium. He needs it without D3 every day. It might be worth taking him to a vet that knows chameleons. It could be the start of MBD. I hope your little guy gets the use of his tongue back and is back to good health soon. Wishing you lots of luck.
 
My little Spazz is no longer shooting his tongue. Tonight he let his tongue go to catch a cricket and it just hung there and then after almost a minute he was able to bring it back into his mouth. He had gone through a bout of vitamin A deficiency, which we were able to get him to a vet and get him through that, but since then we have had to catch his food for him and use tongs to feed him. I am wondering if there is anything that can help him, or if we will have to keep feeding him the way we are now (which we are obviously going to do). Has a cham ever been able to regain the use of its tongue after something like this?

It is highly unlikely that vitamin A can be the sole cause of tongue issues. More likely infection/injury, calcium/vit.D/VitA imbalances, dehydration or maybe vitamin B deficiencies.

how long has he been having trouble?
If the problem was indeed a deficiency issue that wasn't not left too longer before being resolved, he should regain use of the tongue in a normal manner. If however it was untreated for a long time, or if he was young and growing when this happened, it may never become perfect.

Have you tried cup feeding? You may find that allows him to exercise /practise some, while still being able to grab prey easily without his tongue as needs be.

You may find this blog entry helpful:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/232-tongue-troubles.html
 
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