Cyrus took a fall, think he bit his tongue

[lele]

he was on his jungle gym and getting ready to shoot a spider on the ceiling so I was watching him (camera in hand) and he lost his balance when he shot and fell. He sometimes loses his balance from the force of shooting b/c of his eye adjusting and the lack of some toenails on front feet.

I think he bit his tongue. Scared the hell out of me at first. he just lay there with his tongue sticking out and could not seem to retract it. His eyes turned dark (death knell!). I pushed his tongue in then he would gape, stick it out, bring it in. It was all weird and scary His body stayed blue the whole time.

Once he seemed OK I put him on the ground to check out his balance, legs, etc. He falls to one side a little bit, but that's from the eye. I watched him for a while to make sure he was OK, put him in his cage, he basked, and then sat under his humidifier.

He didn't eat yesterday, think he was sulking b/c he is banned from his gym for now as I make some adjustments. He didn't eat today either, but I got some photos while he was drinking. You can just see the tiny bit of red/pink off to the right in the pics.

A question: when you open a cham's mouth by gently tugging on gular isn't the tongue retracted? I did this a couple times earlier today to see how it ever seeing Luna's tongue like that - not that I have done a lot of gular tugging!

here are pics - anything I can do for him? Doesn't seem serious and hoping it heals as I don't know if this is why he hasn't eaten. Poor baby You can see his sort of odd right eye in the pics, too

 

[kinyonga]

I hope he will be okay lele!

I would think that he's not eating because his tongue is sore.

I would keep an eye on it in case it gets infected...of course I'm sure you know that.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Ugh!
Sorry for the stress you're experiencing.
It seems even at their best these guys are brilliant at causing us to worry.
As if he hasn't been through enough already!
As Kinyonga said....keep an eye out for infection.
He's a pretty resilient guy and I'm sure he'll be fine.

-Brad

 

[Cherron]

Poor Cyrus! This guy must be tough cause he has sure been through a bunch! He is a beautiful boy though

In force feeding a few sick chameleons I have noticed that sometimes their tongue will poke out when you pull down on the gular. When you have their mouth open, if you touch the gular area with a little pressure, the hyoid bone will stick out some, pushing the tongue with it.

Don't know if that made any sense.. it is late and I can't get what I am trying to say out.. but yeah.. I think that the tongue poking out some (not hanging out of the mouth, but poking out a bit) when you open the mouth is pretty normal.

 

[lele]

Poor Cyrus! This guy must be tough cause he has sure been through a bunch! He is a beautiful boy though

In force feeding a few sick chameleons I have noticed that sometimes their tongue will poke out when you pull down on the gular. When you have their mouth open, if you touch the gular area with a little pressure, the hyoid bone will stick out some, pushing the tongue with it.

Don't know if that made any sense.. it is late and I can't get what I am trying to say out.. but yeah.. I think that the tongue poking out some (not hanging out of the mouth, but poking out a bit) when you open the mouth is pretty normal.

it absolutely made sense - thanks! Makes me feel better. I just now offered him a super and he missed it twice (he gets so excited over them that he just wobbles all over the place! lol!) so I he ended up taking it directly from my fingers - a very rare occurrence! But the fact that he tried to shoot was a good sign, so I think we are safe with this one - no tongue amputations!

and thanks - he is a pretty guy.

 

[lele]

I think we are out of the woods (see reply to cherron). You know all the stuff I went thru with Luna (not too many folks here do) and I really want a healthy guy - then he has this weird eye thing, deformed toes But I have to say, he really is doing well. Just like Luna he "tells" me when he wants to drink or needs the humidifier - most of the time, but when he is out on his jungle gym sometimes he forgets to back in and bask and drink.

I know he wants to come out and a friend suggested getting some sort of net to catch him if he falls (like a trapeze net!) so now I am thinking the logistics, type of fabric where his nails won't get caught and how he could easily get back to his cage or on his gym. You know me, I'll come up with something, but open to suggestions!


Ok, so for a change of pace (non-medical!) here is a pic of of him sleeping - looks like he was out drinking all night!!

 

[deerhunter]

tongue

hi lele I have been through tongue misfortune 1-0-1 Im sure you read the thread of my female veiled plumper that I had to have her tongue amputated because after three vet visits and two vets her tongue became necrotic. It was a tough decision but I am glad I kept her she is doing very well. as for cyrus I am positive he will be shooting again within two or three days. he is abeautiful panther what locale is he? Looks like a nosy be. anyways good luck. wish you the best.

 

[karebear41486]

That's so cool that he is able to let you know when he wants things! What does he do? I'm getting my first panther on Tuesday morning, and I can't wait!! I hope that he grows up to have a cool personality like that...he will definitely be a very spoiled little guy!!