Mike isn't using her tongue

[Annum]

Mike isn't using her tongue to catch the crickets. We only feed her 2 crickets at a time, (they each get 2 crickets a day) and they are gone by the end of the day. (No, no way for them to escape the cage and they aren't lying dead on the bottom anywhere.) Mike will stalk them until she gets close enough and then snaps them up with her mouth. Is this something that I should be concerned about? Celia, our other Jackson who is in a separate cage, will use her tongue to snap them up with no problem.

Thanks,
Terri

 

[Lancecham]

How long has this been going on? What is your supplementation schedule?

 

[kinyonga]

Is there any glass or plastic between the UVB light and the chameleon?
What is the temperature in the basking area?

 

[Annum]

Lancecham, it has been going on for a couple of days or so, not long. As for supplementation, we feed the crickets a variety of veggies and sprinkle them with Repti Calcium before we feed them to the chameleons on a daily basis. We sprinkle Repto Life Plus on the food for crickets when we feed them. Both Mike and Celia receive the same food treatment.

Kinyonga, we don't have a UVB light set-up for the chams. We live in Hawaii and they live outside on the lanai where they get morning sun and afternoon shade. The daily temperature has been in the mid 70's this week and dropping as low as the upper 60's at night. Since we are in the same area as the wild poplulation of Jackson's I thought that this would be ok, and this was the set-up that they came from before we inherited them. They have been out there since June and have been looking and acting just fine. Do you think this might be the problem?

 

[kinyonga]

Inability to shoot the tongue out can be caused by calcium issues or from injury or infection. Dehydration might play a part too...not sure about this. We can only "guess" which might help some times but a vet could tell you.

Here's an article about it....
http://www.adcham.com/html/veterinary/vet-tongue-problems-kramer.html

 

[Annum]

Kinyonga, thanks for the article. I will step up the hydration, and see if I can get a look at her mouth. We don't handle them too much and of course Mike is less comfortable being handled than Celia. I'll keep you updated on what happens. Since each cricket is coated in the ReptiCalcium before each feeding, do you think it might be due to too much calcium?
Thanks for the help.

 

[Annum]

Just fed them. I put the calcium dust on 3 of the 4 crickets (medium sized) and let them go. Both Chams are eating, but now it looks like Celia has a slow and large tongue. She isn't shooting it out there as fast as usual. I'll see about calling around for a reptile vet, but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[LBonawitz]

i would try holding a cricket out somewhere she cant reach it and see if she CAN shoot her tongue. i know my boy can but when im hand feeding sometimes he'll just walk up and bite it outta my hand, so i make it a point to put a few where he cant walk to. my guy is lazy, hopefully thats the only thing wrong with yours

 

[Annum]

If you mean by holding you actually hold the cricket in your hand, then no, I don't do that. I like the lizards, but something about the crickets give me the creepers! hahahaa

I hope that she is just lazy, that's what my husband says and he is usually the one who feeds them. But I haven't seen her use the tongue lately, but I don't see any signs of malnutrition or anything. As a matter of fact both the girls just finished shedding a layer of skin.

Quick question about keeping them hydrated. We use a water bottle set to mist and use that on the chams in the morning and evening. I mist pretty heavily, getting a good amount of water on the leaves of the plants in there. Is there something specific I should be looking for?