Chameleon tongue problem

sarahja143

sarahja143

New Member
Hey,

I have a Male yemen chameleon & need some advice. In the last 2 weeks he has stopped using his tongue to catch food. Instead of shooting out his tongue he will just walk over to it & eat it. When he does attempt to use his tongue he will only shoot it out about an inch. We were advised by a friend who keeps Chameleons he was being lazy which it does seem like that. We mainly feed him locust so we tried crickets as they are more challenging, whish didnt work. Also we thought it might be because we moved him into a new viv a month ago but surely if he did hit his tongue on something wouldnt he be using by now? He's still eating & seems fine in himself so any advce would be amazing :)
 
Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - 2 year old male, Yemen Chameleon. I’ve had him about 18months
Handling - I have him out every day for a bit. He loves coming so & scratching at the door to come out all day.
Feeding – Large locust & crickets. 4 or 5 every other day.
Supplements - zoo med repti calcium
Watering - i spray his viv every day. He usually drinks from the waterfall in his viv.
Fecal Description - all seems normal no change.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - Glass & mesh viv. 31H x 31W x 18D
Lighting - exo terra 5.0. We have a timer which switches it on at 8am then off at 8pm.
Temperature - basking temp is 85F. Night temp 70F it’s all controlled with a thermostat. We have a digital thermometer to just keep an eye on the temp.
Humidity - I spray the viv once a day occasional more if needed. There is also a waterfall & dripper. We monitor the humidity with an Exo Terra Analogue Hygrometer. We try to keep it between 50-60%.
Plants - All artificial plants & vines.
Placement - the viv is in the living room as Bruce likes constant attention. There are no fans, air vents our household is fairly quiet. The viv pretty much at eye level when sitting or standing as it’s so big.
Location - Winchester, Hants, UK
 
we noticed he stopped using it after a week in his new viv but its now 2-3 weeks later & he's not using it still.
 
sarahja143 said:
Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - 2 year old male, Yemen Chameleon. I’ve had him about 18months
Handling - I have him out every day for a bit. He loves coming so & scratching at the door to come out all day.
Feeding – Large locust & crickets. 4 or 5 every other day.
Supplements - zoo med repti calcium Does this calcium have D3 in it? I would suggest implementing a product like reptivite that has Preformed Vit A.I]
Watering - i spray his viv every day. He usually drinks from the waterfall in his viv.
Fecal Description - all seems normal no change. Description?

Cage Info:

Cage Type - Glass & mesh viv. 31H x 31W x 18D
Lighting - exo terra 5.0. We have a timer which switches it on at 8am then off at 8pm. Type of uvb and age of bulb?
Temperature - basking temp is 85F. Night temp 70F it’s all controlled with a thermostat. We have a digital thermometer to just keep an eye on the temp.
Humidity - I spray the viv once a day occasional more if needed. There is also a waterfall & dripper. We monitor the humidity with an Exo Terra Analogue Hygrometer. We try to keep it between 50-60%.
Plants - All artificial plants & vines.
Placement - the viv is in the living room as Bruce likes constant attention. There are no fans, air vents our household is fairly quiet. The viv pretty much at eye level when sitting or standing as it’s so big.
Location - Winchester, Hants, UK
Click to expand...


Based on your care. Things that can be directly related to your tongue issue.

1. age of your uvb bulb.
2. type of uvb bulb
3. lack of Vit A

It is a possibility he may have injured his tongue also.

How often are you supplementing your feeders?

Are you gut loading your feeders?
 
i second starting the use of a suppliment such as reptivite with d3 and vit a, or switching all together to repashy foods calcium plus all in one supplement.
i have seen lack of vit a cause tounge issues in chams before
jmo
 
Tongue issues can be the result of an infection, and injury, MBD/nutrient imbalance and sometimes, even dehydration.

As was already asked...what do you feed to the insects? Gutload them with? How often do you dust them?

Is there any glass or plastic between the UVB and the chameleon? Is he able to sit close enough to it to get the good of it? As was already asked, how old is it? What brand/type UVB light is it?

BTW...waterfalls can be a very big problem if not kept absolutely clean.
 
the bulbs are on top of the viv which is mesh so like an inch away from him. the uvb bulbs are a month old same as the viv. we dust the food every time we feed him. to be honest due to have other reptiles included a female cham & serveral baby chams we order food twice or three times a week the bugs are feed on vegs & prorep bug grub while in boxes but not in there long like a day tops.
the waterfall is cleaned weekly unless any dirt or dropping fall in or on it.
ok i will change him onto the reptivite today thanks for all the help :)
 
Just a little update. Ive taken Bruce to the vets today they told me his tongue is all normal no damage to it. Blood tests show his calcuim levels are fine so its not the calcium causing the problem. The only thing that the vet can think of is he might of hit it on his new viv & is now to scared to do it again because he remembers how much it hurt.
 
sarahja143 said:
Just a little update. Ive taken Bruce to the vets today they told me his tongue is all normal no damage to it. Blood tests show his calcuim levels are fine so its not the calcium causing the problem. The only thing that the vet can think of is he might of hit it on his new viv & is now to scared to do it again because he remembers how much it hurt.
Click to expand...


Hmmm...maybe you can hand feed him, increasing the distance a bit every day?
 
Also been told by the vet to brush the chams teeth... has anyone else done this? if so any advice on how to do it??
 
never heard of this!!! Are you sure your vet is well versed in chameleon care??? Just because he is a reptile vet does not me that he is. Why would you do this?
 
i asked around for the best reptile vet for chams and all suggested the same guy. we had to travel for an hour to see him. he said my cham had a little bit of bacteria build up on his gums/teeth but thats apparently normal although it could be why he isnt using his tongue. his tongue looks all normal & blood tests all came back normal.
 
I find the idea of a chameleon "scared" to use it's tongue highly unlikely.
I find the idea of brushing a chameleons teeth highly ridiculous

what specifically do you feed your chameleon and what specifically do you feed the feeders?

Zoo med repti calcium contains D3 - how often do/did you use it? Do you use a phosphorous and vitamin free calcium at all? Do you provide a multi vitamin supplement?

did you read the link I provided?
 
Last edited:
im only acting on what ive been told even though i do agree it is ridiculous to try & brush my chams teeth. thats why i asked on here if anyone else has done or even heard of this. im getting a little frustrated by different opinions on what to do. which is why i asked around for the best Reptile vet but he didnt help that much :(
 
I would ajust the supplement schedule and see if he improves by incorperating multiviatamins a nd D3
 
the blood tests show his calcium level is fine & nothing flagged up. ive now got him on Zoo Med Reptivite with D3. i previously had him on the one without d3. i find it a bit odd that my other chams are fine though. so we'll see if the reptivite with d3 helps. thanks everyone :)
 
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