swollen tongue

[deano08]

i bought a jacksons chameleon a week ago and i think he has injured his tongue he will not use it to eat.I have to feed him by hand witch he seems ok with but every now and then he spits his whole tongue out over the vine as if its really irritating him.
his mouth is constantly swollen too as you can see from the pic.
i took him to the vet 2 days ago he gave me something to put round his mouth to reduce the swelling has anyone else experienced this and will his tongue recover or will i have to feed him by hand all his life.

 

[chamlover]

i have never come across this situation so i am also very curios as to what the cause might be. What did the vet say? Did he give you any ideas as to what caused it?
Debby

 

[Dankmeleon]

bump this thread so this this kid can get some help from someone who knows about jackson mouth conditions!

 

[sharkey]

did you see the injury occur?

is your cham showing any other signs of illness/injury?

i am not sure how placing a band around his neck is going to reduce swelling.

i cannot imagine doing anything but letting time heal this problem. hand feeding is a must until his tongue is working properly again. as with most problems, you want to make sure he stays well hydrated - is he able to lick moisture or do you run water over him and see him swallow?

 

[kinyonga]

An injury can cause a chameleon not to use its tongue but so can a calcium imbalance.

Has he been getting UVB light (that does not pass through glass or plastic)?
What supplements are you using and how often?
What do you feed to the crickets/insects?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

i am not sure how placing a band around his neck is going to reduce swelling.

I think he's talking about an ointment.

-Brad

 

[sharkey]

oh - that makes much more sense then a band (i was thinking ace bandage - like putting one on a swollen ankle)

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

I don't have the answer but I also have a panther with a similar tongue issue. She was given to me at a show about 4 months ago. I think one of two things happened, either she didn't get enough calcium when she was young and her tongue did not develope right or when she was young she got it caught on something when trying to eat. Now she is doing fine, but she just chases down her food instead of shooting her tongue.

-chris

 

[deano08]

i didint see him cause himself an injury but 1 thing that concerns me is when hes relaxed he keeps 1 eye closed i thought this could be dehyration but hes always ready to drink in the morning and i spray him 2/4 times a day i dont know if these 2 problems are connected.
he gets his uv(exo-terra repti-glo 10.0 25w)his basking temps are 80 down to about 68f i feed him locusts and occasionly waxworms dusted with nutrobol calcium suplument.
the vet said he looked very healthy and he douts its a calcium deficiency he was more concerned about his tongue the oitment he gave me was an anti-septic.
Ive made the mistake of buying a sick chameleon from the pet store but i just want to get this guy healthy again.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

check his mouth (or better yet, have a vet do it) for abcesses. I had a wc deremensis come down with a swollen throat/tongue. It made it difficult for him to eat, and his tongue would shoot out slow and retract slowly. I did an inspection of his mouth, and noted the swelling was a large abcess on the inside of his mouth (just below the jawline).

The abcess was lanced, and an antiseptic rinse was used. The thing was filled with the typical nasty cheesy stuff, but after it was lanced, he was fine.

So, it is probably not an abcess, but jsut check to make sure!