Possible Tongue injury

Missey0000

Member
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Male, Ambilobe Panther Chameleon, 2 years old
  • Handling - Not very often, more once it gets warmer to take him outside;
  • Feeding - Crickets and silkworms, superworms for treats. Gutloading crickets with fresh veggies, and fruits, and greens i.e. collard greens, dandelion leaves.
  • Supplements - Repashy calcium plus LoD at every feeding.
  • Watering - Mistking misting system that goes off three times a day for 2 mins each time.
  • Fecal Description - Brown with white urate. Has not been tested for parasites. Just went to the vet for a wellness exam and trying to get a fecal sample to them for testing.
  • History -

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - 2x2x4 zoomed.
  • Lighting - 12 hour schedule. Aracadia 6% for uvb, and incandescent bulb for heat.
  • Temperature - Basking spot at 87, bottom of the at about 72
  • Humidity - Humidity stays around 60%, higher after misting. 3 sides are covered for keep humidity. Use govee bluetooth hygrometer/thermometer to monitor.
  • Plants - All live plants, pothos, and dracaena.
  • Placement - Located in living room.
  • Location - Northern California - Bay Area

Current Problem - I was hand feeding a super worm, and for some reason he decided that my pinky was the treat and his tongue got stuck to my pinky for a couple seconds. When he went to to shoot his tongue again this time at the superworm, I noticed he wasn't able to shoot it as far, but he was able to use it. So I am guessing he hurt his tongue when this happened. Any advice?
 
Maybe I'm missing something here, but didn't the OP say that this incident occurred when hand-feeding? Then @kinyonga replied with:
Maybe hand fee him for a few days?
"Maybe hand feed him for a few days?"

Like I said above, maybe I'm not following this conversation correctly, but how is hand-feeding supposed to help the OP in this situation that happened when hand-feeding? I'm mainly just confused about the chain of events here. I feel like I'm missing something or misreading/misunderstanding kinyonga's message. I'll definitely blame myself here because clearly the OP knows what kinyonga is saying. No beef here, I'm just trying to connect the dots.

But in regards to the tongue issue:

If your cham's tongue is strained, you need to give it a rest. This can happen when their tongue gets stuck to something for a few seconds. Treat it like a pulled muscle. You wouldn't want to run up the stairs with a pulled quad. You would limp slowly up the stairs to accommodate for the injured muscle. Running up the stairs would make your injury worse. Make your cham's life easier while he heals. Put the food closer to your cham and it is okay to skip a feeding or two in between. You can try cup feeding at a semi-close range so the food is easier to get. Don't feed from a distance for a bit or else the injury could get worse. Give it a week and see how it goes.

I see that this was posted on Tuesday. How is he doing now?
 
I should have been clearer ...I meant to hold the insect right near him so he doesn't have to shoot the tongue out for a few days to give the tongue a rest.
 
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