Emergency help needed!!

#Chams4life

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Has anyone ever seen this happen before?? Came in to check on the little guys and found her at the bottom, that is her tongue hanging out and it's all dried. I have no idea what happened to her. Right now I have a warm moist paper towel on it in hope to try to unstick it from her hand and moisten it up some. All other babies are doing perfectly fine.
She is a WC captive hatched Sambava so I have no idea of any genetic problems that could have been passed down. She's about a month old, don't think she's gonna make it but I'm willing to try anything to help her and vets are closed, not even sure they would know what to do though. Right now she's trying to pull her tongue back in and she's still pretty strong with good grip.
Temps are anywhere between 85-95 and they are out in the sun almost all day most of the time. Watering for about 1/2-2 minutes every 1 hour (really depends on how hot it is, sometimes I do 30mins but only for very short times, without actually spraying the babies, I go around them.)
Already getting calcium and vitamins and eating a few times a day.
Please correct me if anything is wrong, this is my first time raising babies and it is a learning experience.
 

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I mean if she's able to make it until tomorrow, definitely keep her seperated and in a super humid enclosure tomorrow, I would call a vet and see if they can safely amputate it.... idk though, she is so tiny. they might just put her down... I am so so sorry
 
You need to keep the tongue moist if it's to have any chance of surviving. It might be too late to save the tongue judging from the color. It would be good if you could get it moist enough that you could get it free from its hand so it could be retracted....especially since it's trying to retract it.

If it's strong enough then it could do fine without its tongue.
 
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I have successfully gotten the tongue unstuck from the leg. The tongue feels moister now and I still have warm water on it. It looks like the tongue is actually kinda perking up a little and not so dried out, but still discolored. She's trying to move, I'm just afraid of her tongue ripping out.
 
I agree those temps see high, especially for neonates. Be careful they easily dehydrate even with regular mistings.
 
Those temps seem way high for babies, ambient temps 72-80's basking around 80-82. What do you mean eating a few times a day?

I'll change the temps then, thank you. I put food in the cages 2-3 times a day and watch them eat, they don't eat all of if it sometimes, so I just usually let them finish what's in there before adding more. Also just watched her pull her tongue back in and she's now standing up, still keeping her in a moist area though.
 
Never mind tongues still out, it just got stuck on her chin and from where I was it looked like she pulled it back in.
 
Somits not stuck on her hand anymore? Now it's stuck to her chin... or she just can't retract it and it's resting on her chin? It might be too dried out to retract and need amputation. The "problem" with it being out is that she can't eat or drink without biting it...and another thing is that she might end up swallowing it.
 
It's not stuck to her leg anymore, it's not on her chin but it's wet enough to move without much trouble. Her mouth is already closed on it and she keeps trying to move, I hate to say this but if she makes it through the night I am going to call the vet and probably have her euthanized. It's kills me to say that but right now I can tell she's in pain and suffering and I can't stand to see any animal like that. Plus she's so little that I don't think she would be able to handle the stress of an amputation and I'm not sure I would be able to care for her properly without hurting her because she's so tiny. I'm afraid I would hurt her and cause more stress with constant handiling. At this point I honestly see no way for the tongue to come back, it's all dried out inside the mouth to and I can't get it moist because her mouth is shut. She keeps lifting her head high and then dragging it like she's trying to rip the tongue off.
 
She's likely trying to "flip"/lift it back into her mouth by raising her head. Have you tried lifting it for her to see if she can retract it?
The tongue needs something moist that is edible that you can spread on it to keep moist.
 
She passed away this morning. Poor girl, at least she's not suffering anymore. Just wondering if anyone has an idea as to why this happened? She was doing fine and then just dropped all of a sudden, I didn't see any signs before hand that anything was wrong.
 
She passed away this morning. Poor girl, at least she's not suffering anymore. Just wondering if anyone has an idea as to why this happened? She was doing fine and then just dropped all of a sudden, I didn't see any signs before hand that anything was wrong.
Those high temps will drop them fast, you said they are outside in the sun most of the day? Do they have shade to cool down? Misting should be way longer to ensure they are being hydrated.
 
@#Chams4life

I'm sorry you lost the little baby.

She looked very dehydrated in your first picture (the skin was tenting) . I suspect she died of dehydration but that is just a guess. Your temps were very high and you talked about the cage being in the sun. You can desiccate a baby in a heart beat in the sun. Neonates are usually deep in cover and not in full sun.

She likely caught her tongue on something causing some damage to her tongue such that she was unable to pull it back into her mouth. With her tongue hanging out, she was also not able to swallow. From your description, I doubt she was kept in an environment of 100% humidity so she had no chance of staying hydrated.

I suspect that unless you change how you are keeping them, this will be the first death of many. Neonates are fragile and are because they are so tiny, there is no room for error. Sorry for being the pessimist.
 
Thank you I appreciate all the help. They are outside with mostly shade and some sun. since it's been pretty hot out I make sure they always have shade. Guess I will only put them outside when it's not so hot out. How long do you recommend spraying them for? I don't want to drown them, but I want them to get enough water.
 
Thank you I appreciate all the help. They are outside with mostly shade and some sun. since it's been pretty hot out I make sure they always have shade. Guess I will only put them outside when it's not so hot out. How long do you recommend spraying them for? I don't want to drown them, but I want them to get enough water.

I have two clutches of babies (Trioceros quadricornis gracilior) that are about a month old right now, so about the same age as yours. I've been getting them out almost every day even though our highs are in the mid 90s here in South Central Texas. Graciliors are a cool-weather montane species from an area that gets 400" of rain a year, so I have to be incredibly careful with them.

I have my outdoor baby cage (that I rotate the different clutches through) under a tree at the western edge of the canopy of a very big Live Oak tree with the wall of my house directly to the south of the cage. That means the area gets the most dappled shade for the longest period of time throughout the day and the whole area around the cage stays the coolest. You will be surprised at how much cooler it is under a big tree's canopy. I check the babies at least every hour--often every 15 minutes--during the time they are outside. They come in before it gets anywhere near hot. I check where the babies are in the cage--if they have climbed the screen and are not directly in the mist, I move them back down to the dripping plants. Normally, I bring them in after an hour or two.

I have an Arctic Cove patio mister (about $15 from Home Depot--it attaches to your hose) with two nozzles inside the cage and other nozzles spraying around the cage. I keep the misters running the whole time they are outside. I have cut a lot of asparagus fern fronds to spread across the bottom and through the oak branch lattice for them to climb on. I like the cut asparagus fronds because their leaves are so small, they hold a LOT of water. Plus when I go searching for a bunch of tiny babies hiding in the cage (it's big) to bring them in, I can pick up a sprig of fern and see a baby easily. I can pile the cut fern fronds in a corner to systematically find babies. I keep the misters on them constantly and do not put them out if the air is dry. They can dehydrate even when sitting in the middle of the misting spray if the air is dry. Even my adults will dehydrate on a cool dry day, misters or no misters. There is no margin for error with tiny babies.

It is important to realize that open space and sunlight substantially increase the ambient temperature around the cage and drop the ambient humidity levels. I have a lot of outdoor cages set up on my deck. Most of the cages are under the canopy of a big Live Oak tree. My deck is about 7 feet above the ground, so the cages are pretty much inside the tree canopy. I have one cage that is not under the tree canopy. Even though that other cage is surrounded by very large bushy plants with banana plants draping over the top of the cage, I cannot keep that cage cool enough after early morning no matter what I do. The difference in temperature of the area around that one cage and the others which are basically inside a big oak tree is substantial.

I hope that helps. I'm a big believer in natural sunlight and think your getting the babies outside is a good thing, but you have to be super careful with them. Good luck.
 
Ok thank you for all or your guys help. I showered all the babies last night for a long time and they were all drinking, gonna do that some more because I can just let the water run then and keep checking on them every few minutes.

Just wanted to share a picture of one of the little guys, this guy is an Ambilobe about 2 1/2 months old and is showing some green on his face, also showing some red when he gets angry. I was also doing the same routine with these guys but will now change it, really appreciate all the helpful comments.
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