Carpet Chameleons/Tongue Problem

[dartfrog]

Hi Everyone I am new here,I would appreciate any advise.I have recently bought a Female Captive Bred Carpet chameleon approx eight months old everthing is fine with her,colour good regular toilets,eating well and drinking fluids.But she keeps her mouth with the end of her tongue slightly showing,she is in with another female and male who do not have the same problem is this a cause of concern any advice appreciated.
Thanks
Heather

 

[Lost Lake Chameleons]

There is a good chance she is NOT HAPPY about sharing her cage. Carpets can be HIGHLY territorial, with a lot of display behavior. Try giving her her own space and see if that helps.

 

[Justin Carl]

Does her tounge only stick out when she is about to eat?
Most chameleons will stick out the tip of their tounge when they are about to shoot.
How large is your cage?
Carpets arent social animals, and should be house seperate.

 

[dartfrog]

I know they are supposed to be anti social to each other,so was only originally wanting a male but the person I bought them from would only sell as a trio as they had grown up together.They spend all day cuddled up with each other and even sleep on top of one and another at night.None of them is showing stress colouration,the tongue is a good colour but she constantly shows the tip of it,but can use it fully to catch her prey.If you stroke her nose she will put it back in her mouth.soon as you stop she opens it again.
Thanks for your help Heather

 

[Justin Carl]

How large is your cage?
Maybe Vegas Chad will see this and help you out a little more.
He deals with the species almost exclusively.

 

[dartfrog]

It is a 18"x18"X24" exo terra tank with heavily planted live plants and vines and has cork bark on either sides

 

[Julirs]

That cage is no where large enough to house even one adult cham let alone 3. Is it all glass also?

 

[Dankmeleon]

pics please

 

[dartfrog]

Hi
I know the viv sounds small but as I say I was only planning on getting one originally. Every book I read said that they didnot need a lot of space.They are the smaller species Lateralis Lateralis and are only about 5 1/2 inches total length. I have incorperated many plants & vines so there is plenty of climbing space, but they seem to prefer to sit on a favourite perch up by there heatbulb, spending most of the day eating. The temp is 29 degrees under the light ,they also have a 5% uvb bulb which I was told would be strong enough.They are sprayed twice daily giving approx 70% humidity.Each one is showing normal coulouration. I was planning to split them up as I wasnot wanting to breed them, but they seem so happy together with the male showing no interest. I forgot to say she even does this tongue thing when she is asleep. If need be I can split them as I have spare vivs.
Thanks Heather.

 

[Kent67]

Hi Heather,

I hate to be "that guy" but a couple things stuck out in my mind that I hope you will consider. Due to how rarely F. lateralis lateralis hatches in captivity, the fact that they are adult size already, and this being the time of year when wild caught Madagascar chameleons are imported I would be suspicious of them not being captive bred, unless I knew and absolutely trusted the seller. Hopefully you do. If not, I would suggest, at minimum, taking the female with the odd tongue behavior to your vet for a checkup and fecal exam. She seems to be doing ok with it now, but I would be worried about the cause of this behavior, as it surely isn't normal and could be the result of discomfort in moving the tongue and hyoid bone to their normal positions.

Please keep us updated. Carpets rock!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Kent,

I am also suspicious of the CB claim.
I think all of them need fecals.
Have you looked inside her mouth at all? I wonder if she's having issues breathing properly ... maybe some kind of sinus blockage (purely speculation).
I agree that she should go in.

-Brad

 

[dartfrog]

Hi everyone thanks for your concern about the carpets being CB. I know the breeder very well as I have 2 stunning panthers which I purchased from him. The carpets are F2 adults. The shop is kept immaculate so shouldnt have parrasites. I have tried looking in her mouth but cant see any mucus, there is a tiny grey dot right on the very end, was wondering if she could have caught it on a locust leg as when I recieved them fed them some which were a bit too big. If you drip water on the end she puts it back in but if you gently stroke her throat she sticks more of it out, when she is in her viv she has approx 1mm showing constantly. What do you all think?
Heather.

 

[Kent67]

It's good to know that you trust your seller so the wild caught thing can be eliminated. I'm guessing by the availability of locusts that you are in the UK? Sorry I had to throw that out there, but here in the States, we don't typically see captive born adult carpets for sale, much less breeders only selling them as a trio "because they grew up together."

As to the problem at hand, I think you have two options. 1. Wait and see, hoping it doesn't manifest into a worse problem, or 2. figure it out now (going to a qualified vet if possible) because if it gets worse, it will likely be more difficult to treat later. If I had to speculate, I would say the cause of this behavior is more likely to be physical rather than just a preference for sticking it out. Does the dot you mentioned look raised? I'd be worried about a small abcess or something else on the tongue making full retraction uncomfortable.

 

[dartfrog]

Hi,
The dot is just a slight blemish and is not raised,I will give a few more days if no improvement I will contact my vet as I have only had them about 10 days,do not want to stress her out by talking her just yet.
Thanks for your help