Tongue now innacurate in male ambilobe

[cowchick]

Hello, I have a question and am not overtly worried, but am slightly perplexed. My male ambilobe is over 1 year old and has always been very accurate with his tongue and catching insects in his cage. I feed a variety of crickets, superworms, silkworms, & hornworms, and yes I dust them using calcium with and without D3 & vitamins/minerals. He has always had excellent aim with his tongue, and has had no reason for injury, as I place his insects on the screen and have never seen him do any harm to it. My question for you...what would cause him to go from incredibly accurate to incredibly inaccurate. We are talking to the point where he sees me feeding the others, and comes to the door ready to grab insects from my hand...but literally cannot catch them. He will keep missing them, and after 3 or 4 attempts he just climbs right up close and almost grabs them with his mouth. It's really weird and I'm hoping this will change, because it bugs me. He doesn't have a problem eating, just keeps trying to snake them from 9 or so inches away then gives up and just grabs with his mouth. It's kind of sad really. Any insight would be great. Thanks, Stephanie

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Sorry to hear about your cham. How old is your UVB bulb?

 

[cowchick]

Thanks Gesang. My female went through this about 5 months ago as well, but is fine now. Hoping it's just a phase.

The UV bulb was just brand new about 5 months ago...it's due to be replaced in a month, as I have been replacing every 6 months. Is that not frequent enough?

 

[kenya]

Maybe someone else can chime in, but maybe a dose of preformed vitamin A is in order? Vitamin A is vital for eyes and he may not be able to focus properly so is missing his food.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

ADDED: Right, kenya. I was just rereading Stephanie's post and saw that she did not mention the eyes. If the tongue is shooting straight, and appears normal, than the eyes would be in question. And, that could be related to vitamin deficiency or an eye or sinus infection, or....whatever.

BEFORE ADDING THE ABOVE: Stephanie, I would suspect either the bulb, or perhaps the cham is not spending enough time close enough to the bulb.

Also, sometimes when I am looking into one of my chams' cages I suddenly realize the plant has grown to the point where it blocks part of the UVA bulb, or part of the mister, or enough of the UVB bulb to begin causing a problem. And so I trim back the plant.

Sometimes it can be something as simple as that.

But still it is a real concern. If he is calcium deficient, the tongue is one of the problem areas that show up. If this is the case, than just correcting the deficient areas may not be enough. He may need additional supplementation or a vet visit.

Another thing we have seen is when a cham is taken out of the cage and placed in a window, he may shoot for a bug that is on the outside of the window, smack the glass, and damage his tongue. This is a mechanical injury that often cannot be corrected.

When Guido (in my avatar) started having a tongue problem (among other things) we took him to the vet. The vet did a blood work up ($90), and we corrected Guido's diet.

 

[kinyonga]

What do you feed the insects and gutload with?

 

[cowchick]

Thank you guys. I gutload crickets & superworms with sweet potato, potato & carrots. Perhaps I'm missing something that would be beneficial? Obviously the silkworms get silkworm chow...however I've been unable to get silkworms here for almost 6 months, but just hatched out some eggs and they're in the works now. I've tracked down a roach supplier, although they're illegal to have here for some reason...but I'm going to start a roach colony.

Typically speaking...don't people say carrots are good for your eyes? Perhaps I need more carrots? Vitamin A, C, E & selenium seem to be most important for eye health, and there's new research on lutein...perhaps I need to include more veggies for the insects.

My chams don't get out of their cages a whole lot, because A) I'm paranoid they'll get away B) I have a jack russell & C) I'm very busy in summer with my rodeo, so would rather do as best as I can for them in their cages. So fortunately I can rule out striking at glass. I don't have a lot of stuff at the top of the cage, as I've allowed it open for basking. Perhaps I just got a bad bulb with reduced shelflife? I'm going to go ahead and order new bulbs anyways as they're due soon. I'm hoping this problem can correct itself soon and I'm watching my other 5 to make sure it's not a problem for them all.

 

[TreelionsUK]

I would add some greens into your gutload as chameleons also need iodine,you can use spring greens/grape leafs/Dandelion's and kelp,

your problem can be resolved,so try not to worry
A good diet will slowly rectify this problem

 

[FooL111394]

Gutload is key in any adult cham.