came back from the vet and now he can't extend his tongue

[asongforyou]

Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon – Niji ambilobe male 4 months old, had him since September. He weighed 20 Grams today
• Handling - Once a day for about 5 minutes
• Feeding - Dubias, walking sticks, superworms(once in awhile) crickets (once a week) I feed him 6-8 small dubias or until he doesn’t want them anymore. Gutloaded on-dandelion leaves, apples, carrots, collard greens (just one leaf), steamed yam, pomegranate, oranges
• Supplements – Calcium w/out D3 daily, Multi OR D3 on alternating Sundays.
• Watering – Dripper 3 times a day (runs for about 10-15 min) then hand mist about 5 times a day. Mistking is currently leaking so we’re not using it ATM. Yes, I see him drinking but did not see him drink this morning because we went to the vet.
• Fecal Description – Brown and white no yellow in urates. He had his fecal today and he has roundworms. He received 1 drop of panacur today.
• History – No other history

Cage Info:
• Cage Type – Screen reptibreeze. It’s the small one.
• Lighting – Reptisun 5.0 light comes on at 6AM turns off 6PM.
• Temperature – Temps range from 72-78. Digital thermometer
• Humidity – 55-60% analog gauge
• Plants – umbrella plant
• Placement – Chams are in my study. No traffic and near a window. Cages are on top of a table that is about 2.5 feet tall.
• Location – I live in Southern California (they get to go outside quite often and soak up the sun)

Current Problem – Last week I noticed Niji missed his food twice when I was trying to hand feed him. I also noticed a few days ago that his tongue is not shooting as strongly as it did before. I took him to the vet today and took a fecal sample as well. They did find round worms so I received panacur to treat it.

The doctor (who was recommended by a few members from the forum) didn’t find anything wrong with him physically. Said his bones looked great, tongue didn’t have any noticeable issues.

We came home and I gave him 1 drop of his medicine, I tried to feed him after he settled back in. He was willing to eat and ate one dubia normally. Then, when trying to eat the second one he barely was able to extend his tongue!

Could it be a reaction to the medication? What am I missing?
Another thing that really bothered me was when the Dr was trying explain that some chams just lose the ability to use their tongues and that it's "okay" that they'll just eat like any other lizard. It reminded me of the time when my bird injured her foot and the vet was telling me that birds do just "fine" with one foot. He wanted to amputate it. Got a second opinion and her leg turned out just fine.

 

[squeekz1992]

That has happened a couple of times when chams have come back from the vet.. I'm not exactly sure. It could maybe be stress of the visit? But hopefully someone who knows more about this situation can elaborate and answer for you

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Did the vet open his mouth to look inside? It is relatively common to have this problem after an exam, especially if they opened his mouth. Even if you're gentle about opening the mouth carefully they're stressed and resisting and can cause some strain on the muscles. I wouldn't worry just yet. It is usually transient and resolves over a few days back to normal. If he wasn't using his tongue normally to begin with then he may just return to the state of decreased function he was already at until we can figure out why that's happening to begin with. Just watch him over the next few days and if it doesn't improve then I'd call the vet back and let them know about this development.

 

[asongforyou]

Did the vet open his mouth to look inside? It is relatively common to have this problem after an exam, especially if they opened his mouth. Even if you're gentle about opening the mouth carefully they're stressed and resisting and can cause some strain on the muscles. I wouldn't worry just yet. It is usually transient and resolves over a few days back to normal. If he wasn't using his tongue normally to begin with then he may just return to the state of decreased function he was already at until we can figure out why that's happening to begin with. Just watch him over the next few days and if it doesn't improve then I'd call the vet back and let them know about this development.

Yes, the vet was looking inside of his mouth. Glad to know that this is pretty common. Apart from the issues today, do you have any ideas as to why his tongue seems weaker than a few weeks ago?

 

[AngieL]

Ferret is right it can be like a stress reaction, happened to my girl after the last vet visit. Some vets recommend that you don't try to feed them until 24 hours after an exam.

 

[Dr O]

i’ve been asked to chime in—

i agree 100% w/ ferret at this stage. just recently i was posting about something similar, and i too often tell clients that the stress of the travel and exam may often put something “off” for a few days. usually i’m referring to appetite, drinking, defecation, friendliness, etc. but this fits into the typical cham response pattern to a trip to the vet.

husbandry looks fine although you don’t mention a basking area with elevated temps which is necessary, even with trips outdoors.

i’ve commented on tongue issues more than anything else, i think. the other most common reason is just a typical muscle strain of the lingual muscles, and that may take up to a few weeks to fully resolve. those can be sped up by using anti-inflammatories. however, since this happened just after the vet visit i doubt it’s that type of injury and should resolve after a few days. i would advise bowl feeding to rest the tongue as much as you can until it’s obviously back to normal operation.

another thing to mention—chams use their tongues to lap water. look for that—assuming that he can drink just fine, then you know it’s not a pronounced or severe injury, he’s just unable or finds it too painful to take a real tongue shot. let us know about his drinking ability, and continue to monitor for a few days. and it’s not from the Panacur, don’t worry about that.

dr o—

 

[asongforyou]

i’ve been asked to chime in—

i agree 100% w/ ferret at this stage. just recently i was posting about something similar, and i too often tell clients that the stress of the travel and exam may often put something “off” for a few days. usually i’m referring to appetite, drinking, defecation, friendliness, etc. but this fits into the typical cham response pattern to a trip to the vet.

husbandry looks fine although you don’t mention a basking area with elevated temps which is necessary, even with trips outdoors.

i’ve commented on tongue issues more than anything else, i think. the other most common reason is just a typical muscle strain of the lingual muscles, and that may take up to a few weeks to fully resolve. those can be sped up by using anti-inflammatories. however, since this happened just after the vet visit i doubt it’s that type of injury and should resolve after a few days. i would advise bowl feeding to rest the tongue as much as you can until it’s obviously back to normal operation.

another thing to mention—chams use their tongues to lap water. look for that—assuming that he can drink just fine, then you know it’s not a pronounced or severe injury, he’s just unable or finds it too painful to take a real tongue shot. let us know about his drinking ability, and continue to monitor for a few days. and it’s not from the Panacur, don’t worry about that.

dr o—

Sorry, forgot to mention his basking spot. That gets to about 80-82 degrees. He also normally cup feeds as well. Should it be warmer?

As I was frantically writing this earlier, I forgot to ask my second question. Why do you think that his tongue is not shooting as strongly as before? This is prior to the vet exam.

Thank you Dr O and Ferret for commenting

 

[Dr O]

Sorry, forgot to mention his basking spot. That gets to about 80-82 degrees. He also normally cup feeds as well. Should it be warmer?

As I was frantically writing this earlier, I forgot to ask my second question. Why do you think that his tongue is not shooting as strongly as before? This is prior to the vet exam.

Thank you Dr O and Ferret for commenting

well, most people will keep a warmer basking spot. but remember, it’s a spot, or one side of the cage that only has the high heat. they will find the exact right zone that their body needs for that moment and go to the proper area, but you need to supply that area.

if his tongue wasn’t as well prior to the exam, then it’s usually a strain in most cases where husbandry is fine. tincture of time, rest, anti-inflammatories if you feel you want to speed things up and return to the vet are the usual solutions. and the strain was likely aggravated a little by the exam.

don’t be frantic; it’s rarely necessary or helpful in a case like this. turn up the patience dial and still let us know if he’s drinking ok.

 

[asongforyou]

well, most people will keep a warmer basking spot. but remember, it’s a spot, or one side of the cage that only has the high heat. they will find the exact right zone that their body needs for that moment and go to the proper area, but you need to supply that area.

if his tongue wasn’t as well prior to the exam, then it’s usually a strain in most cases where husbandry is fine. tincture of time, rest, anti-inflammatories if you feel you want to speed things up and return to the vet are the usual solutions. and the strain was likely aggravated a little by the exam.

don’t be frantic; it’s rarely necessary or helpful in a case like this. turn up the patience dial and still let us know if he’s drinking ok.

Okay, I'll monitor his drinking and update. My lack of experience in chams gets the better of me when things like this happen *sigh*

 

[biochemnerd808]

How are things now? I can sympathize... our cham has to be hand-fed.

 

[nightanole]

Im on the injury list too...
I put a hornworm on one of his sticks like i do every morning. He shot out, hit the caterpillar, and the stick, didnt want to give up the caterpillar, so proceeded to put himself over a foot across the cage just by his tongue before he let go. Now his hit box is about 2" if its over 6"-8" away.

 

[asongforyou]

How are things now? I can sympathize... our cham has to be hand-fed.

He's eating and drinking (I haven't seen him drink but his urates are white) Just like Dr. O said..his tongue is back to how it was before. So he's shooting his tongue but it's not 100%
What happened to your cham?

Im on the injury list too...
I put a hornworm on one of his sticks like i do every morning. He shot out, hit the caterpillar, and the stick, didnt want to give up the caterpillar, so proceeded to put himself over a foot across the cage just by his tongue before he let go. Now his hit box is about 2" if its over 6"-8" away.

I hope he recovers soon. My baby's tongue issue has been stressing me out.