help! my female veiled chameleon overshot her food!!

[lespaul232]

Ive had this chameleon just over 2 weeks and shes been great eating everyday and stools are normal, shes perfectly healthy.. Until just now she went to catch a superworm with her tongue that was just out of reach and she didnt get her tongue back in her mouth all the way! she started to freak out as did I! I gently put my finger on the end of it to help her get it back in her mouth which she did, and she dropped the worm. afraid she was never going to eat again i put a new worm down very close for her to get and she wasnt able to flick her tongue out after that!!! she got close enough that she still got it by just touching it with her tongue. Please help as this is my very first veiled chameleon i dont know what to do, will she ever be able to flick her tongue again? what can i do to help it??

 

[Kntonoff]

The only thing I can really say is, go to the vet. I am commenting so I can get you to the top, but honestly I would just take her to the vet

 

[lespaul232]

has anyone seen or heard of this before? the vets are all closed and no one around even the emergency after hours place has any idea about chameleons..

 

[deathdealer91]

Here try this link: http://www.arav.org/find-a-vet/

 

[lespaul232]

youre both just recommending vets which at this time does not help me whatsoever theyre all closed. isnt there someone on this forum who can give me better advice like that will help me tonight and not waiting until tomorrow for a vet? i mean cmon anyone can tell someone to go to a vet thats not going to do anything for me right now.

 

[zsazsa85]

Don't feed her,let the tongue rest. I would say for about 3 days. How old is she? If her tongue is hanging out of her mouth, try to keep it wet with wet cloth, drop water on it, until the vet sees her!

 

[Sticktongue]

youre both just recommending vets which at this time does not help me whatsoever theyre all closed. isnt there someone on this forum who can give me better advice like that will help me tonight and not waiting until tomorrow for a vet? i mean cmon anyone can tell someone to go to a vet thats not going to do anything for me right now.

Sometimes theirs nothing much to do Untill you see a vet. Just make sure the tongue stays in her mouth till tomorrow.

 

[lespaul232]

Ok will do I'll check on her again tomorrow morning when I turn on her lights. but last I saw it's staying in her mouth just fine. I was going to try feeding again then to see if it had healed over night but if you suggest waiting a little while to feed that's what I'll do. How will I know if she needs to see a vet or not though if I don't supply food and don't know if she can flick her tongue or not anymore? I'm not exactly sure of her age but she's close to 60 grams in weight and probably like 1 foot from head to end of tail.

 

[Sinfulintent]

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I'm pretty sure I've read that when they miss sometimes they just kind of let their tongue droop there for a little bit. If they tongue is hanging out still definetely keep it moist, but if her tongue is in her mouth she may just need to let it rest, could just possibly be like a human hyper-extending a muscle? Need a few days rest, as long as it isn't hanging limp out of her mouth completely she should be O.K. how old is she? Letting her rest would be the best I would think, make sure she atleast drinks water, if she can do that that should be a good sign because they use their tongues slightly for that (atleast mine do) . She may just be nervous to try to eat again, and they can go many days without eating, I would personally hold off on the vet for now as long as the tongue stays in the mouth, and keep offering food, if she is just nervous to try again eventually she will get hungry enough to eat.

 

[zsazsa85]

Ok will do I'll check on her again tomorrow morning when I turn on her lights. but last I saw it's staying in her mouth just fine. I was going to try feeding again then to see if it had healed over night but if you suggest waiting a little while to feed that's what I'll do. How will I know if she needs to see a vet or not though if I don't supply food and don't know if she can flick her tongue or not anymore? I'm not exactly sure of her age but she's close to 60 grams in weight and probably like 1 foot from head to end of tail.

Just let it rest for now. You will know, when next time you try to feed her. Definitely hand feeding until you are sure her tongue is ok or go to the vet.

 

[kplatvoet]

A lot of the tongue problems I see on the forum seem like a problem with supplements - check the care sheets for veiled to make sure your supplements are correct and the ingredients on them to make sure your not giving D3 when you think it's just plain calcium.

I would not stop feeding her but I would try and hand feed or cup feed so that she doesn't need to make hard long shots for a couple of days and see how it goes and make sure she gets plenty of water - if she has a problem getting it back in again it is important to keep it moist a little help with a gentle finger isn't a problem - shoving it back in would be (but you already figured that out)

Keepers with totally right care can have an overshot problem -a nice big bug that they miss because they didn't take the time to line it up right- the chameleon has a sore tongue for a couple of days and is fine - If you notice that she's still having problems with aim and you've checked your supplements I would see the vet - I haven't had this problem so if someone with more experience has better advice I would take it.

I don't have a veiled but I noticed with my jackson that since I started gut loading my crickets with better and better stuff her aim improved. It's not as obvious with the panther but I think gut load makes a big difference over time.

 

[lespaul232]

Ok I'll definitely let her tongue rest and keep her plenty hydrated. She's still drinking water I noticed last night after it happened when I cleaned her cage an put her back in with the water dropper. I'm about to spray and set up her water dropper again after I post this an was thinking of trying to hand feed a couple super worms w/ repticalcium. She's a voracious feeder tho so I'm sure she will go for them as she was skinny at the pet shop an hasn't missed a day without crickets and worms. I'll hand them right up close so she won't have to flick her tongue. I'll wait another day or two before I drop some crickets in there tho just to be sure she doesn't have to flick her tongue to get them. Thanks for the feedback I know just how delicate these lizards can be cause I've had a Jackson's for almost 2 years.

 

[lespaul232]

My zoomed repticalcium says right on the front no d3 and even has a panther chameleon picture on it.

 

[lespaul232]

Wooooow I'm super stoked when I hand fed those 2 super worms dusted in repticalcium they were only about 1-2" away and to my surprise Jade was able to flick her tongue to get them! I thought there was going to be long term effects but thankfully she's recovering well! That's all I'll feed today and just let her drink plenty of water before I put some crickets in there. Thank you all so much for all your advice and I'll be posting to these forums again if I ever run into anymore chameleon trouble!

 

[Carlton]

Wooooow I'm super stoked when I hand fed those 2 super worms dusted in repticalcium they were only about 1-2" away and to my surprise Jade was able to flick her tongue to get them! I thought there was going to be long term effects but thankfully she's recovering well! That's all I'll feed today and just let her drink plenty of water before I put some crickets in there. Thank you all so much for all your advice and I'll be posting to these forums again if I ever run into anymore chameleon trouble!

This does happen. The tongue is a complex system of muscle, tendon, and cartilage so it can be injured just as any soft tissue can. As long as she can keep control it can heal OK.

 

[sarah1201]

do you know if your chameleon has had offspring? I'm currently studying herpetology and I've learned that a lot of the times when they have offspring their tongue projection accuracy decreases each time. Energy expenditure is what they call it. Just food for thought. I'm sorry and I really hope everything turns out for the best. I just purchased my chameleon and I am already in love. I would be sick if there was anything wrong with him, so I really hope for the best for you.

 

[zsazsa85]

I'm glad to read she is doing better today already! Just hand feed her for couple of days!

 

[kplatvoet]

Hopefully you will not just be coming back just when you run into trouble- I'd love to see some pictures and I'm partial to jacksons -

sarah1201 do you know if your chameleon has had offspring? I'm currently studying herpetology and I've learned that a lot of the times when they have offspring their tongue projection accuracy decreases each time. Energy expenditure is what they call it. Just food for thought.

sarah1201 -
I'd love it if you could point the way to some links on that - I love reading about stuff like that - finding the links to it is what drives me crazy - It's hard for old people like me to use the google.

 

[sarah1201]

I'm not much on links, but more on scientific journals and text books... I know pubmed.com is all published scientific journals and articles if that interests you, but I learned this from a text book called "Herpetology" 3rd edition by Pough. VERY helpful with not only chameleons but any reptilian species. Also shows the musculature used with tongue projection and many other interesting facts. (my favorite is facts about viviparity, oviparity, etc... look up Surinam toads- very cool). hope this helps with your curiosity!

 

[lespaul232]

To be honest I'm not sure if she's had any offspring. To me she only looks like a juvenile. I'm no longer having to hand feed her and she's goin thru her first she's with me.ill post pics from my computer later of my chams it's not letting me from my phone.