Tongue lost!

[TCMontium]

I was cleaning my 7-8 months old male panther's cage yesterday. Then in a flash someting stick to my finger and it was the TONGUE OF MY CHAMELEON! I didn't see if he bit it off or it rip off but it was off! There was a tongue on my hand! I was shocked, frightned. I went to a vet immediately but they said they can't do anything (In my country vets are not even experienced with birds).
I had to hope that he wont die cause of blood loss. And he didn't, he is alive and looks okey right now. I don't know what else I can do and I don't know how long it will take to heal his tongue.
I gave him water-Reptaid mixture with a syringe yesterday night to help him. I think giving him Reptiaid and Reptaboost with a syringe won't be harmful, or will it be hamful?
When will he be able to eat bugs or can I give him Bug Juice? Will Bug Juice cause his cut tongue to get worse, get infected?
What should ı do, which drugs should I give him?

 

[shmeenakoz]

He will most likely need an antibiotic. I would use the search window here and research others who had similar experiences to find what drugs were prescribed. What a horrific accident, Im so sorry this happened to you and your cham! Good Luck, sorry I don't know the drug you need but I don't want to give you the wrong info. Maybe someone will chime in on what else you should do.

 

[laurie]

We can work with this. A number of chams have lost their tongues and lived for years with out them.

Things I can offer are. you may need to hand feed the rest of your chams life. Some learn to walk over and bite the prey into their mouth, some never do. It is best to get soft feeders if possible. If you were in the US, I would say silkworms, hornworms and roaches. I have no idea what is available in your country, just do the best you can.

You are doing the right thing in feeding him a liquid diet until his mouth has time to heal.


This is without me having a cham who lost a tongue. Hopefully others will jump in. But I spent a lot of time on the phone with a friend when his cham lost its tongue. Good luck and if you have questions I will get answers for you. I at least know who to ask.

 

[SJRG95]

My cham still has his tongue bit it doesnt do the tongue job very well. So he has learned to deal with it. He runs up to the crickets kind of like a leopard gecko and bites it. Or like he did yesterday he missed with his tongue (as usual) and the cricket jumped on his head and he just GRABBED the cricket and ate it.
As long as you do your part to keep him healthy and keep his mouth clean and free of bacteria (do research) he will adapt!

 

[TCMontium]

Thank you all so much!
I am sorry that I did not post any reply back then.

Tobi did not die and did not got sick. But he ate poorly for a couple weeks and remaining flesh of his tongue slowly disappeared. Now, 3 months after the accident, his tongue is mostly bone. As I can see not much flesh is left but it doesn't bother him. He can't grab insects, he can't rotate them in his mouth and he can't drink much himself with his flesh-less tongue. I kill and put insects in his mouth (usually I have to push them, so he can swallow them) and I make him drink with a syringe.
It is hard to take care of him and I heard that syringe method has the danger of drowning, but I hope everything will be fine and he will live as long as a usual male panther can. Only thing I am afraid of is that who will take care of him if I have to go to another country for university 2 years later.