Bit her Tongue Off

[iggykawas]

My Cham lost its tongue Yesterday. Its been two day's since she's eaten. I tried hand feeding her meal worms and silk worms Today but she would not budge. What is the best way to go about this??. Do most Chams survive without a tongue?? How long can it go without eating??
Its an adult Flapneck (Female)
I keep it in an all screen cage with fake plant and dirt substrate.
Before the incident she would eat gut loaded crickets, i dusted them as well.
I have a drip bottle and would spray it at least two times a day.
I live in Southern California.
I have a UVB light as well as a red bulb light
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Here is a pick of her it was taken May 12, that same day she laid 29 eggs.

 

[brighteyez]

wow, that seems really serious. Have you taken her to the vet??

I don't know what to say about her tongue, but you mentioned you have dirt substrate. You should get ride of that.

Also, if you fill out the info for your cage and cham, it will help those who have the experience to better assist you. You can find all the stuff to fill out one the "how to ask for help" thread.
Good luck!

 

[Olowanpi]

Oh... I am so sorry for your girl!

How in the heck did she do that? Is that a common occurance? Does anybody know???

I think Elisa might have had one that needed it's tongue amputated, and I thought it's doing fine...

Hang in there! Water is most important. And a vet to make sure there is no infection! Good Luck!

 

[Metric]

I would get her to a vet ASAP. How did the tongue get bitten off? was there any bleeding?...regardless, i think a vet is ur best choice.

Other then that, u can make bug mush, pretty much blending up some crickets or worms and feeding it to her with a syringe or something similiar. A vet visit is still priority.

 

[Lizardlover]

by the way, please get rid of the soil, and dont feed mealworms.

 

[iggykawas]

The Vet looked at her and told me that the only thing to do is to hand feed her every day. I found Her with her tongue out since tuesday afternoon and eventually she bit it off.

 

[iggykawas]

Got rid of the soil. What should i replace it with??

 

[Metric]

thats strange....One of my females once shot her tongue out and was unable to retract it for about a minute, but no problems after that.....maybe she got it stuck to something...like a big piece of substrate....im clueless to be honest. Lets hope she hand feeds, i've heard of owners doing it succesfully. You might want to try giving her some silk worms/horn worms so she can get used to catching things without a tongue.

 

[Metric]

Got rid of the soil. What should i replace it with??

Nothing....its reccomended you don't use any substrate. Others may suggest newspaper or paper towel....but i don't use any substrate, I generally clean any poop when i see it, or do a search of the enclosure every other day.

 

[SimonBolivar]

Very sorry to hear this. And im hoping had feeding works
Best of luck to you and your cham

 

[chambabysitter1]

Who was the vet that you saw?

 

[iggykawas]

I took her to the pet store where i bought her at. There is a Pet store across the street. The owner took her and the Vet told him that the only thing i can do is hand feed her. She looks very healthy aside from her tongue being severed. And I just managed to feed her 5 wax worms. I am pretty stoked for that.

 

[Syn]

I believe he was looking for a name.

 

[kinyonga]

You posted the other day about her tongue hanging out...did you try to feed her with it out?? She should have been taken to the vets right away if it didn't retract itself within a few minutes of when it first hung out.

I think she should be on antibiotics in case she gets an infection in the open wound that would be left where the tongue was bitten off. Normally when the tongue is amputated by the vet, the end of the tube-like tongue is stitched and the chameleon put on antibiotics.

As for feeding without a tongue, they can learn to chase after the insects the way any other lizard (without a long tongue) does. If she seems to be uncomfortable with the remaining tongue (keeps trying to adjust it in her mouth, for example)....then she will still need to go to a vet to have it amputated close to the end of the hyoid bone or she could be so stressed out by it that she will die.

 

[Pure]

Did you free range feed crickets? I've heard of Chams over extending their tongues and damaging it so that it couldn't retract.

 

[ChameleonAyer]

Recently I was at the vet with all four of my WC chams and all of them need meds to get rid of parasites. And, he said that the best way he has found to open an unwilling chams mouth is to use a dull credit card's rounded tip to gently open the mouth or to gently pinch their neck flap to open their mouth and put the meds/food in. Good luck with her.

-Amanda