Chameleon tongue completely detached

[KailieBug]

We have a 7 month old female pink panther chameleon. Yesterday when my daughter put her hand in the cage, Kailie thought she had food, and tried to eat. Her tongue stuck to my daughter's hand, and completely detached when she tried to retract it.
We have an amazing vet, who stayed 2 hours past closing last night to help us. I honestly thought I was bringing her in to be put down, but our doctor said she might be okay.
She is on some pretty strong pain killers and antibiotics, and he has given me a liquid diet for her. He said that if she will eat, she should live. He also said that there is no reason to stay with liquid food, as long as she is willing to try to eat live food.
I swear, I almost passed out when my daughter called me at work yesterday. My ears started ringing, and my vision started to go.
I was able to find a thread on here last night about a champ named Barney who had the same thing happen, and thrived afterwards, so that has given me some hope.
The thing I'm majorly concerned about now is hydration. She can't lick the leaves anymore.
Any advice??

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. I'm so sorry that this has happened to your pretty little girl. I haven't any experience myself with this, but do know that there have been many chameleons who live out their lives without tongues. I'm not sure how they drink, but they learn to grab the food with their mouth. You will need to provide a good feeding station to keep her food in one place. Something like this - https://tkchameleons.com/products/shooting-gallery?variant=30018608595032 You may also need to help her until she learns her new way. @nightanole was it you that had a Cham that lost it's tongue?

 

[KailieBug]

Hi. I'm so sorry that this has happened to your pretty little girl. I haven't any experience myself with this, but do know that there have been many chameleons who live out their lives without tongues. I'm not sure how they drink, but they learn to grab the food with their mouth. You will need to provide a good feeding station to keep her food in one place. Something like this - https://tkchameleons.com/products/shooting-gallery?variant=30018608595032 You may also need to help her until she learns her new way. @nightanole was it you that had a Cham that lost it's tongue?

Thanks for this! I will definitely look into the feeding station! I think I will syringe hydrate for a little while at least, and watch her waste closely to be sure she is getting enough to drink.

 

[Beman]

Be extremely cautious with how you are giving meds, water, and food. Their airway is at the front of the mouth so it is very easy to aspirate them. http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2014/05/how-to-give-different-medicines.html

 

[KailieBug]

Be extremely cautious with how you are giving meds, water, and food. Their airway is at the front of the mouth so it is very easy to aspirate them. http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2014/05/how-to-give-different-medicines.html

Thank you! Our vet was very clear that we need to put the syringe as far into the mouth as possible. She seems to be doing quite well this morning, I'm just worried that she isn't getting enough water The vet did just call to check in, and is going to call me back regarding the water shortly.

 

[Beman]

Thank you! Our vet was very clear that we need to put the syringe as far into the mouth as possible. She seems to be doing quite well this morning, I'm just worried that she isn't getting enough water The vet did just call to check in, and is going to call me back regarding the water shortly.

So this is where auto misting during the day and fogging at night is going to be really important. Misting because it will roll off her face and she will be able to try to drink it. Fogging at night when temps are cool so that she can receive that form of hydration.

It is a learning curve for them and just changing everything to compensate for the loss of the tongue so she can still thrive.

Once the amputation actually heals this is when you can start hand feeding her. She will learn that she has to grab the feeders. So a feeder run that she can go all the way into and hand feeding where you are holding it right up to her mouth to grab will be important.

Fortunately due to her age if you are trying to control clutch size then this will be easier because their food intake is much lower. Let me know if you have not been given info on how to control clutch size in females.

 

[Gloriawood]

I just want to say hi and welcome. Sorry to hear about your girl this is a great place for support and advice. You are in good hands

 

[AaQb420509]

Wow smh . Chameleons aren’t even supposed to be handled why let a kid around it if theyre not prepared for something like a tongue punch lol. Sorry to hear that , but sounds like irresponsible ownership to me .

 

[MissSkittles]

Wow smh . Chameleons aren’t even supposed to be handled why let a kid around it if theyre not prepared for something like a tongue punch lol. Sorry to hear that , but sounds like irresponsible ownership to me .

Respectfully, this comment is not at all productive nor helpful to the OP and I ask that you refrain from passing any judgement. Regardless of the circumstances (that we only know a small part of) we are all human and mistakes and bad things happen. I thank you for being more mindful in the future.

 

[KailieBug]

Wow smh . Chameleons aren’t even supposed to be handled why let a kid around it if theyre not prepared for something like a tongue punch lol. Sorry to hear that , but sounds like irresponsible ownership to me .

Gosh, you're pleasant. She's my daughter's pet, and my daughter was cleaning up her poop from the cage. Actually sounds like responsible ownership to me...

 

[Gloriawood]

Gosh, you're pleasant. She's my daughter's pet, and my daughter was cleaning up her poop from the cage. Actually sounds like responsible ownership to me...

My guy has mistaken my hand for food many times. Cleaning up poop, watering plants, all that good stuff. I hand feed so it happens associates my hand with food now.

 

[Ghostbirb]

Hello and welcome! I’m so sorry to hear what has happened to your girl! I hear you are giving her meds? If you’d like here is a image of where a chameleon windpipe and esophagus is.

My guy has mistaken my hand for food many times. Cleaning up poop, watering plants, all that good stuff. I hand feed so it happens associates my hand with food now.

Mine too! I don’t think I can count the amount of times that Nachito has shot her tounge at my hand and tried to eat it.


Anyhow, I hope your girl recovers!!! Best of luck!

 

[KailieBug]

My guy has mistaken my hand for food many times. Cleaning up poop, watering plants, all that good stuff. I hand feed so it happens associates my hand with food now.

We have always hand fed too. Our breeder told us it was a great way to interact, without stressing her out. And she does love her food. She comes straight over when we open the cage. If I had known that losing a tongue was a possibility though, we probably wouldn't have done this!

 

[KailieBug]

Hello and welcome! I’m so sorry to hear what has happened to your girl! I hear you are giving her meds? If you’d like here is a image of where a chameleon windpipe and esophagus is.
View attachment 351587

Mine too! I don’t think I can count the amount of times that Nachito has shot her tounge at my hand and tried to eat it.


Anyhow, I hope your girl recovers!!! Best of luck!

Thank you! This is the best picture I have seen showing this. Our vet was very clear to put the syringe far back in her mouth, but wasn't super clear where the trachea was. This makes me feel better.

 

[Ghostbirb]

We have always hand fed too. Our breeder told us it was a great way to interact, without stressing her out. And she does love her food. She comes straight over when we open the cage. If I had known that losing a tongue was a possibility though, we probably wouldn't have done this!

I think it’s pretty rare for a chameleon to lose their tounge in general. I’ve only read a few instances on here. It sounds like an unfortunate instance. But now hopefully we can help her through it

 

[Ghostbirb]

Thank you! This is the best picture I have seen showing this. Our vet was very clear to put the syringe far back in her mouth, but wasn't super clear where the trachea was. This makes me feel better.

I know the feeling! I have to give my Cham meds right now as well and it sure is nerve racking at times

 

[KailieBug]

So this is where auto misting during the day and fogging at night is going to be really important. Misting because it will roll off her face and she will be able to try to drink it. Fogging at night when temps are cool so that she can receive that form of hydration.

It is a learning curve for them and just changing everything to compensate for the loss of the tongue so she can still thrive.

Once the amputation actually heals this is when you can start hand feeding her. She will learn that she has to grab the feeders. So a feeder run that she can go all the way into and hand feeding where you are holding it right up to her mouth to grab will be important.

Fortunately due to her age if you are trying to control clutch size then this will be easier because their food intake is much lower. Let me know if you have not been given info on how to control clutch size in females.

I would love to know how to control clutch size! From what I've read it's mostly not letting them eat too much. I also really appreciate the advice on hydration!! It makes me feel better to know that others have been through this, and that she can learn to manage. As the vet said, she will just need more help than other chameleons. She's our little Special Needs girl now (vet's words, not mine!)

 

[MissSkittles]

Usually it's tong feeding that has been the biggest cause of chams losing tongues from what I've seen. Hornworm's are also a risk as they really grab on to most surfaces and are best hand fed. One of mine has in the distant past pulled her tongue from a hornworm (before I knew better) and thankfully it was a temporary injury. Currently she is always trying to eat my fingers and it's only thru knowing what she's going to do that I don't pull away. She is a bit older and no longer shoots her tongue more than an inch or so. She got me the other day and when her tongue stuck to me, she then made sure to bite me...twice. She's trained me well not to pull my hand away.

 

[Beman]

I would love to know how to control clutch size! From what I've read it's mostly not letting them eat too much. I also really appreciate the advice on hydration!! It makes me feel better to know that others have been through this, and that she can learn to manage. As the vet said, she will just need more help than other chameleons. She's our little Special Needs girl now (vet's words, not mine!)

Here is the info for females to control clutch sizes.

As she matures you will have to start cutting back her food. By about 6-7 months she should be getting about 5-8 small feeders each day. At about 7-8 months you want to slowly reduce by cutting down feeder amounts so that she is on a feeding schedule of 3 days a week with 3 feeders. You want them to be on this schedule by the time they are 9-10 months old.


You will not ever want basking to be over 78-80 for her. Very important for females because as she ages she needs this temp no higher at basking to help control the amount of eggs she produces. The hotter the temp the more their metabolism speeds up so we have to keep the temp lower since we are doing lower food intake.

A lay bin should be added as a permanent fixture by the time they are 6 months old so they get used to it and it does not cause stress.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/

This will give you more info https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/

 

[KailieBug]

Thank you for this! She has the lay bin, but the feeding is different than what I've seen before - I didn't think I was supposed to reduce until 12 months. She's currently eating 8-10 small feeders a day. When she goes back to live food I'll make sure it's no more than 8.