Not sure what this is. Please help.

[summoner12]

This is the weirdest thing I have ever seen.

This morning I got up. I saw Jake at the bottom of his cage so I took this as my chance to give him his baytril. I snatched him up and was holding him, taking a look at him. My GF was in the shower and I thought 'maybe I'll take him in there for some warm humid air....'.

I get in the shower room and I notice he has a slimy thing crawling out of his mouth!!!!!!!!!

I have NO IDEA what the hell it is! It crawled out of his mouth and kinda up his nose and then starts heading back into his mouth. Jake started getting fidgety and I could hardly hold him. I was trying to get a hold of him so I could use my other hand to pull the slimy thing off. I couldn't get to it in time and it went back into his mouth. Finally I got him in a hold and got him to open his mouth and the thing was headed down his throat! I took Jake out of the shower and held him for a bit to see if the thing would come out again. No luck.

Once my GF was out of the shower we gave him his Baytril and some water. Jake started to open his mouth and chomp like he was chewing on something a little and then stopped. I put him back in his cage and have been checking on him. No sign of the slimy critter.

The slimy thing was about 3/4 of an inch to 1 inch long. It had two little horns or like eyes? sorta looked like a snail without a shell. It was black.

Jake had a fecal test about a month and a half ago and it was clean. Maybe it is time for another?

ANY IDEAS?!

 

[chamlover]

Yuckkkkkk! It has to be some kind of parasite or worm i would think. Is he c/b or w/c? We had a female that was w/c and had her for only about a week. We had a vet appt the next day, just because she was w/c, but she died that night, (we are assuming just all the stress). After she passed, my hubby noticed slimmmmmy things crawling out of her mouth.. Thank god i never saw them. Keep us posted.

Debby

 

[summoner12]

He is CB. He isn't eating an odd amount of food. I just hope that wasn't my one chance to easily solve the issue. Jake was prolly just as freaked as my GF (she sceamed), so he wouldn't sit still for me to get a good hold on him.

 

[dodolah]

it is very likely a parasite.
Sometimes fecal float test can come back negative for couple of reasons.
Not so fresh stool can affect the readings.

Also, there are some parasites that cannot be detected by fecal test.
Such as Foleyella furcata.

Either way, it's time go to the vet to get a treatment.
If you saw 1 adult parasites, it is most likely there are more in the system.

Parasites unfortunately is a continuous threat faced by everybody regardless how good you keep your chameleon.

 

[triumphfreak]

wow that sounds crazy like a horror film!! I hope your vet can get to the bottom of that one quick. fecal floats only work if the parasite is shedding eggs at that time good luck hope you figure out the culprit let us know what it is i'm interested
jeff

 

[Eric Adrignola]

sounds stupid - but you sure it wasn't his tongue? Just asking, cause your description sounds just like a chameleon tongue - the horns beign the folds of the tongue. Not thinking you're stupid or something - just that their tongues DO look like a slug, especially when they're semi-concious.

I hope it was his tongue - otherwise, that's disgusting. I freaked out this week when I found a MEALWORM embedded in some chicken sausage I was about to eat -seriously. Disgusting.

 

[Nicodemayo]

He said it kinda crawled up his nose. I dont think their tounge could do that lol. Sounds gross. I hope you get your little guy straightened out summoner. I trust you will

 

[AFH]

Do an internet search and see if you can find somthing that looks like it. I'd start with Foleyella furcata that Dodolah suggested and see if that's what it is. I couldn't find anything with pictures but this: www.webs.ulpgc.es/apreptil/saur.htm
Check out figure 6 about half way down. Is it something like this?

 

[summoner12]

Do an internet search and see if you can find somthing that looks like it. I'd start with Foleyella furcata that Dodolah suggested and see if that's what it is. I couldn't find anything with pictures but this: www.webs.ulpgc.es/apreptil/saur.htm
Check out figure 6 about half way down. Is it something like this?

Did it look like this? no.

It looked like a snail without a shell. It was very weird to see something like that. I guess im gonna have to take him in for another fecal sample. How would he get this? He gets silkies, roaches and crickets. He sometimes eats dirt or ants out of the pot we have a Ficus tree in. But it is inside. Maybe from the dirt in his cage? I did add top soil to the pot when i replanted it.


It looked a lot like #3 in this photo. Link

Can slugs go in and out like that? Maybe he ate it just before I pulled him from the cage?

 

[AFH]

Maybe he found a slug in the dirt or something. It might look like something good to eat.

 

[summoner12]

but can he digest that?

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

I would vote for it being a snail or slug he found in the dirt. Evidence: 1. You found him low in his enclosure. 2. He didn't readily eat the thing. 3. It looked like one.

When our dogs get ahold of a slug, they sometimes chew around on it like chewing gum, but don't really get anywhere. It comes in and out of its mouth, and the dog looks like it's about to gag. Generally the dog spits it out. Slugs can be really tough to chew, and would probably have to be swallowed whole by a chameleon.

In a very moist situation, slugs and snails may leave the dirt, and be seen crawling around. It probably really got your cham's attention.

I don't think it would be harmful. Humans eat slugs/snails. We just cook them first.

 

[chamlover]

Just for the record, this is a really gross thread, which is why i have to chime in.lol. My son once caught a baby mouse outside the house and while he was showing it to me the exact same thing happened. The slug thing started crawling out of his mouth and around his face. I immediately made my son (who thought it was awesome and wanted to bring it to school) throw it bac into the woods. Being a gardener slugs, when the conditions are right, do come out of the dirt to feed and move around. They go up into the leaves which is what probably got your chams attention. When i purchase a new plant (no matter where i buy it ) i remove all the dirt, rinse the roots, then replace it in a sanitized container with organic soil. I might be overdoing it, but i would rather be safe than sorry. Good luck.

Debby

 

[PEMEX]

Some Tapeworms get large and could explain the odd amount of food being eaten.

 

[summoner12]

Some Tapeworms get large and could explain the odd amount of food being eaten.

Hes not really eating all that much more than he has been.. and hes been growing a lot.

I have an MS Excel sheet with Jake and Fred's weights charted. If anyone is interested I can email the file and you can see his weight gain.

 

[lele]

yup, I 2nd (or 3rd?) the slug theory, especially since you included the pic. They live in soil and b/c of their "slime" coating it is quite possible it stayed lodged in his mouth or throat (Cyrus recently had a perfect sized hornworm stuck in the roof of his mouth, he must have pushed it up there with his tongue, I had to remove it with forceps). I think it will eventually make it down into his stomach just from natural movements and will be digested from stomach acids. I'd watch for it in his feces, yet it may be hard to see if it is well digested. If you see it in his mouth you will need forceps to grab it as it will slip from your fingers. As gross as it is, it it will not hurt him.