Superworm stuck in Veiled's mouth?

Moosma

Member
He is 7 months old, seemingly healthy... He crown is molting, and when he molts, his appetite seems to lessen, so I didn't get alarmed when he stopped eating. He hasn't eaten in two days.
He stopped eating crickets a few weeks ago, so I took him to the vet.
Vet agrees that he is healthy, and that he'd probably been stuck in the mouth by parts of a cricket, hence his reluctance to eat crickets. He said that we could feed Mozart with worms and moths and whatever else we could catch for him (the vet said Mozart needed softer food than the crickets). We gutload mealworms and superworms for him, and dust them twice a week.
Today, when I went to take him out of his cage, he hissed at me, and his tongue looked different - it looks like there's something stuck in it... normally he hisses and shows that beautiful tooth-free mouth, and his tongue is nowhere to be seen - today tongue shows and it is opaque and swollen looking.
It is SATURDAY 6:30pm. No vet until Monday.
Mozart looked content to be in my hands, but that tongue thing is freaking me out!
What could it be????? Please, someone, respond with suggestions or something, please...
Thanks in advance.
 
I can't imagine how I'd get a pic of his tongue, he's fiesty. He's eaten two mealworms since I posted... (I just looked in his cup).I am taking that as a good sign.
 
Try going to the cage with your camera at the ready. If he hisses at you, snap as many pictures as you can.

It's possible you caught him right after grabbing a worm so it was still stuck in the "suction cup" at the end of the tongue.
 
If the end of the tongue is swollen looking it might have be infected or injured. A picture would help.

I think it might be time for a visit to the vet to have it checked out.
 
I agree with kinyongia that a vet visit is in order. I don't think there's much you can do until then, and I don't think it's an emergency today, but don't wait to schedule an appointment.

If you were looking for softer foods than crickets then I wouldn't necessarily say that superworms or mealworms were a good choice since they actually have harder shells. I would look into hornworms, butterworms, and silkworms - they are extremely soft bodied, juicy and nutritious. You usually have to order them online but chams love them and it sounds like something soft like that will be much, much better for an injured tongue! Many of the site sponsors have those worms available.

Good luck with your little guy, keep us posted on his progress!
 
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