Tail Chewing

[MusicCityExotics]

Hey Everyone,

My vet is out of town (of course) and one of my panther chameleon girls started a strange behavior that I had never heard of before. When I went in to mist this afternoon, she was chewing on her own tail. She was up on a branch just chomping away. I do morning inspections of all of my animals, and she was perfectly healthy this am. There were zero signs of stress, no infections, scratches, or abrasions. She drank well, and even ate some crickets. Then this afternoon, she is super dark and trying to bite herself. Has anyone heard of this before? She is about 3 years old, has been having regular normal bowel movements, and a wonderful appetite. She gets a calcium supplement and a vitamin supplement dusted on crickets twice a week. Temps are perfect, as are her lights. Nothing has changed from this morning till this afternoon.

Any suggestions? She has started to bring a bit of blood. I am calling around to try to get another vet to see her. Just wanted to thoughts of what to do prior to appointment.

Thanks
Heather

 

[Joe A]

thats kinda crazy, ive seen dogs chase and chew their tails but never heard of a cham doing it. Maybe she was craving a juicy worm and thought her tail was one. or maybe a cricket or something crawled on her tail and when she went to eat it she pulled her tail into her mouth by mistake. I dont know of a condition that would cause that, but of course i dont know everything. I would put some iodine on her tail to stop any infection if it has any open wounds and if she does it again maybe the taste of iodine will stop her. do you offer worms at all? if not maybe you should. just some food for thought, good luck i hope your cham stays healthy

 

[MusicCityExotics]

Thanks for the input. I was totally baffled as well. I have many chams, as well as other exotics, and have owned them for several years. I have never seen anything like it. I did put some iodine on it to help stop infection. She caused a big bloody mess. That poor tail is in rough shape. The weird part is she acts like nothing happened. I do offer her worms to vary the diet. Though she did have crickets this morning.

 

[Seeco]

Hey I have seen this before. You may need to go to the vet. If you cant afford to you should post some pictures and send me a PM when you do.

Is she housed alone?

 

[MusicCityExotics]

Private message sent. thanks