Chameleon Won't Shoot his Tongue and has Bad Aim

[Lukie Pookie]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Furcifer pardalis male 7 months
Handling - Only handled when purchased to view the chameleon and one time he came out of the enclosure while I was misting and I had to put him back inside.
Feeding - I feed my chameleon 10 crickets everyday and give him hornworms occasionally
Supplements - Repcal calcium with no D3 everyday and Fluker's calcium with D3 twice a month
Watering - I mist about three times a day once in the morning once in the afternoon and once midday.
Fecal Description - Fecal is brown and urates are nice and white. He's never been tested for parasites as far as I know.
History - He has no medical history that I know of

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 18x18x36 glass terrarium. This is just a temporary cage while we setup our 24x24x48 reptibreeze.
Lighting - Not sure of brand. It's a dual heat and uv bulb.
Temperature - Basking spot temp is at 89 farehnheit and ambient temps are at 70-75 farenheit
Humidity - Humidity ranges from 50%-70%
Plants - No live plants atm
Placement - Cage is in my bedroom. Usually it's just me in there but sometimes my family will come inside to look at him briefly and admire his colours.
Location - Niagara-on-the-Lake Canada

Current Problem - I recently bought the chameleon just last sunday from these breeders called EhChameleons at the downsview reptile expo in toronto. The morning after, I fed him and he didn't have very good aim. I then realized that he also wasn't shooting his tongue very far. It took him about 3 tries at a very close distance to get a still cricket. I thought maybe the targets were just too small so I bought some hornworms to give him a bigger target. He still missed about three or so times before he just went up to the branch the hornworm was on and just plucked it right off. Is this normal? If not, how can it be resolved?

 

[Kiki2803]

I am no expert but I have heard it is a sign of lack of calcium or vitamins.

 

[Lukie Pookie]

Thank you. That seem to be the consensus from what I have read. Should the breeder take him back and give us another? I forgot to mention the breeder advertised that they have a health guarantee.

 

[Kiki2803]

Well that is really down to you. Personally, I would try to treat him do my best to make him OK but I don't really know what you have been doing so maybe you have been doing everything you can. Maybe give it a little bit longer and if you can, take him to a vet that deals with reptiles. If he does not seem to do any better, then maybe you can take him back to the breeder. Just wait for about a week or something.

 

[nick barta]

One possibility is he had his tongue stuck against a surface when he was shooting at food resulting in a strain. Strains often heal themselves.

I think it is more likely a lack of PRE-formed vitamin A. You are missing a vitamin with PRE-formed vitamin A in your supplement schedule, and lack of tongue shooting is probably related to that.

Reptivite vitamin supplement can be found in most pet stores and has the preformed A in it.

Make sure he eats a couple feeders covered in it, and he should start using the tongue.

Once he is using the tongue, use the vitamin A dusting, about every other weekend.

CHEERS!

Nick