Help! My chameleon is having trouble swallowing!

[radstusky]

My Jackson's chameleon, Drake, has been struggling for over an hour to eat a dubia that seems to be stuck in his throat. Has anyone ever seen this happen before, and should I try to help him somehow? Obviously he can breath OK, but I'd really like him to get it down rather than me trying to pull it out.

 

[grimlin18]

well how long has he been working at it? is the roach to large for him? my chameleon usually takes his time to sallow his roaches if its to big, he holds it in his mouth for a good while then puts it back further ad holds it there for a while. he slowly but surely swollows it.

 

[jannb]

If it were me I'd try opening his mouth and seeing if I could see the dubia stuck in there and then decide whether to try to pull it out or try to help him get it down. My petsitter had a hornworm get stuck in one if the female panthers throat when we were out of town and she had to stick her finger in her mouth and asist with getting it down. She did get bit but she and the panther were both ok.

 

[radstusky]

Here's a video I took:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwNqe7C-9fc

It's pretty far down there now. I may just give him some more time before trying to intervene.

 

[jannb]

If he doesn't get it down soon I'll try to lightly squeeze (massage) his throat to try to help him get it down.

 

[radstusky]

It looks like a couple of the segments on the dubia have flared outward and are acting like spurs to preventing it from going down smoothly. What I did was pull it out partially so he can chew it a bit more and hopefully get it down. If this doesn't work of course I could just pull it out, but I want him to eat it!

Here are some pics that I just took, which show what I'm talking about with the segments sticking out:

 

[Syn]

Doesn't look to be too far in there (unless I am just seeing this wrong), you could try removing it gently if you feel you are up to it.
I had to do it a few years ago with a dubia, one of the segments hooked on the chameleon's mouth.

 

[jannb]

He's such a handsome little guy. I hope he'll get it down and be ok. IMHO I alway recommend small feeders. I alway feed maybe on the small size everything except to the parson. Better to have two smaller dubia than one large.

 

[melvbrooke]

I agree, I always feed a bit on the small size with bigger portions. My chameleon is almost 6 months and I fuss over silkworms still and their squishy haha.

 

[radstusky]

Update

I ended up pulling it out then, no need to take any more chances with it, and my son and I are off to the movies!

You're right Jan, this dubia was just a little to big for him!

Thanks everyone for your advice!

 

[Chamero]

He looks fine....reptiles have great reflexes and he will either manage to get it down, or will give up and throw it up-or re-arrange and re-chew.

That being said, try to feed smaller feeders as this size is too big...

 

[Chamero]

Also, how do you guys get in their mouths without them biting... no way am I putting my fingers in my veiled mouth

 

[bikesforme]

ya i know what your talking about there. i had a vieled i used a couple of different tweezers. and a plastic droper, a soft one

 

[radstusky]

Also, how do you guys get in their mouths without them biting... no way am I putting my fingers in my veiled mouth

I used tweezers, I definitely wouldn't be putting my fingers in his mouth! I have a pair of tweezers that I've dedicated for chams and bugs...

 

[Hoj]

i get bit all the time as my guy camo has no tounge and is only hand fed, its not that bad but he knows im just there to feed him so i dont think he bites that hard

 

[jannb]

Jr my daughter's one eye panther has to be handfed and I have a pair of wooden toaster thongs that work great and I don't have to worry about the metal tweezers hurting his tongue.

 

[Syn]

Jr my daughter's one eye panther has to be handfed and I have a pair of wooden toaster thongs that work great and I don't have to worry about the metal tweezers hurting his tongue.

How do the toaster tongs have any less impact on the tongue? Just curious.

 

[jannb]

How do the toaster tongs have any less impact on the tongue? Just curious.

They are wood and not metal with no sharpe edges.

 

[Syn]

They are wood and not metal with no sharpe edges.

Yes, wood tongs would imply they are made of wood and not metal.

Do you ever worry about splinters? The tweasers (etc.) that I use that have metal on them don't have sharp edges (most are blunt).

 

[jannb]

Well mine are polished and smooth with no splinters kind of big for taking toast out of the toaster but the metal ones I have are very sharpe for plucking hair.