In desperation I started calling people that had vaguely mentioned stuff about performed A on the forum but had to some degree been blasted for it. I started using the described method above for adding supplementing with liquid gel caps on one feeder every 2 weeks (for chams with problems) and used the Repashy dust on one feeder on the weeks I didn't use the liquid. Slowly his aim started to get close. His shooting was getting harder and farther and instead of missing by inches he was missing by Centimeters. In the past couple of days he has started hitting.
This morning he took 5 bugs out of my fingers and only missed once.
I got my first cham from a very well respected source but I found out that they give Reptivite and D3 4 times more than is suggested by this forum. I feel that if I had done less research and just gone with the care sheet I would never of had an issue. I think the drastic change from 8 times a month to 2 times a month was one of the factors that lead to my chams deficiency. The other factor is using a Rep-Cal Herptivite that does not include performed A. These problems seem to be much more prevalent in Panthers, which leads many to believe that Vailed and other Montane species have a greater ability to convert beta carotene than do Pathers.
These are some great observations that I think are important to note.
I wanted to make a comparison to frogs of all things because I think there are possibly some similar issues at work and I know that a lot of people who keep chameleons might not have any knowledge of Dart Frog Nutrition for example.
In frogs, Vitamin A deficiency has proven to be responsible for quite a few long term issues that have plagued the hobby. Tadpole development, and the dreaded "Spindly Leg Syndrome" is a development issue where the tadpoles develop deformed legs at metamorphosis, and in sever cases, just hatch and die, or never hatch.
Lab studies have been done on the frogs and tadpoles and shown that they are deficient in Vitamin A. Supplementation of Retinol has proved to reverse these conditions even in pairs of Dendrobates that have produced no offspring for five years or more.
More relative to this discussion, is another frog malady that is called "Short Tongue Syndrome" which when you really look at it, seems quite similar in description to these chameleon tongue issues. These frogs can't put their tongue out far enough to catch bugs, or when they hit, the tongue doesn't stick to the bug.
Vitamin A supplementation has again proven to reverse this condition in frogs. There are tons of threads related to this on the DendroBoard Forums.
Another noteworthy tidbit, is that as you all probably know, frogs are amongst the most sensitive species when it comes to disease, reaction to chemicals, and supplementation. I look at them as the "Canary in a Coal Mine" when it comes to evaluating toxicity.
So far, the addition of Retinol in the Frog hobby has done nothing but improve captive husbandry. The frog hobbyists were very resistant to the use of Retinol in supplementation for a long time, but over the last five years or so, a lot of thinking has changed. I really think that Chameleon hobbyists will have similar experiences as more and more open minded keepers step outside the box so to speak.
Back to Tongue issues..... there are two potential conditions at work here, or a possible combination of the two. First, eye site can obviously effect aim, and second, actual tongue issues can be the problem. Both of which, I believe might be signs of Hypovitamintosis A.
If anyone on here has Chameleons with STS (short tongue syndrome) or vision problems, please PM me. I would like to put together an informal study and would like some participation from keepers with known issues.
As far as different types of Chameleons and their requirements. I do agree that a deeper look is needed. All of the work the Kammers have done with Retinol has been done with Panthers. Time will tell if the same regiment works across the board, or for example, supplementing every other feeding instead of every feeding is sufficient for Montane species...
Allen
