Panther Cham Has A Broken Tongue

L

Lily Princiotta

Member
I have noticed that my Panther chameleon who is 2 years old does not look like he's doing too well. His tongue is broken and he sits on the bottom quite often. We always offer him bugs and he has an appetite but does not have the energy to eat, and always completely misses the bowl. His tongue is broken making it hard for him to eat. I have noticed in the pat week that his colors have been very light. and he's been closing his eyes. When he does go to the top, its to get some water and to bask under his UVB. Does anyone have any suggestions of how to get him to eat? he's losing weight at a very rapid pace and its scary. Weve tried tongs, hand feeding, bowl feeding, and almost everything i could think of. Any suggestions?
Thank you so much!
 
Hi. That sounds like more than just a problem with the tongue. In order to best help you and your chameleon, we’ll need some more info. Let’s start with some current pics of your cham and your entire enclosure, including the lights. Pics of the supplements you’re using will also help.
 
How do you mean it’s broken? Do you mean…. It won’t shoot out? Or it’s hanging out of its mouth and won’t go back in? Or it misses hitting the insects but goes back in ok? Or what?
We need photos please.

I wouldrecommend getting him to a good chameleon exotics vet asap.
 
Last edited:
kinyonga said:
How do you mean it’s broken? Do you mean…. It won’t shoot out? Or it’s hanging out of its mouth and won’t go back in? Or it misses hitting the insects but goes back in ok? Or what?
We need photos please.

I wouldrecommend getting him to a good chameleon exotics vet asap.
Click to expand...
it misses hitting the insects but goes back in. Thank you so much.
 
MissSkittles said:
Hi. That sounds like more than just a problem with the tongue. In order to best help you and your chameleon, we’ll need some more info. Let’s start with some current pics of your cham and your entire enclosure, including the lights. Pics of the supplements you’re using will also help.
Click to expand...
okay here are the pics. thank you so much. Here is a picture of him eating too(he is trying to eat a little dubia roach). Its almost what looks like he can see the bug but his eyes and his tongue dont match up :(
 

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Lily Princiotta said:
also, he is on repashy vitamins on almost every feeding since he eats so little.
Click to expand...
You don’t want to do that. Some of the vitamins are fat soluble and can build up and make things worse. He does not look at all good and it would be best to get him to a good vet experienced with chameleons ASAP. If you need help finding a vet, https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/area-by-area-country-vet-list.32880/ and https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661 should be of help.
 
Looks like a T8 fixture as well... So he would not be getting the UVB he needs. I am seeing quite a bit of husbandry related issues here. Start reading through every module here https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
The husbandry overall needs correction but this boy does not look good at all. Showing signs of decline. Vet would be a very good idea along with the husbandry overhaul.


What repashy supplements are you using? Can you take a pictures of the labels?
 
Beman said:
Looks like a T8 fixture as well... So he would not be getting the UVB he needs. I am seeing quite a bit of husbandry related issues here. Start reading through every module here https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
The husbandry overall needs correction but this boy does not look good at all. Showing signs of decline. Vet would be a very good idea along with the husbandry overhaul.


What repashy supplements are you using? Can you take a pictures of the labels?
Click to expand...
He has a T5 5.0 UVB lamp. Here is his repashy supplement. He recently started chasing some bugs around his enclosure earlier today. Now he's at the tope getting soem water.
 

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That supplement has both Vitamin D3 and preformed vitamin A, both which are fat soluble. It really shouldn’t be used with chameleons, but when it is, it should only be given at one feeding every other week. Your guy has been overdosed with vitamins. You should be using a phosphorus free calcium without D3 at every feeding and then the multivitamin/D3 combo once every other week. Repashy has a nice calcium - Supercal noD. Unfortunately there’s little to be done to get the excess vitamins out of his system. It’ll just take time and very good hydration. For at least the next month or so, don’t give him any more multivitamins - just use the calcium. When you dust, do so lightly. If your feeders look like snowmen, it’s too much.
A visit to a vet with experience with chameleons is still and always a good idea, but do make sure to let them know about the multivitamins. Many automatically assume the chams are vitamin deficient and will give them some.
I do see some other improvements that could be made. Most important would be checking your uvb light. Is it a T5 or T8? What strength bulb is being used? Has it been changed recently? The standard is a T5 with either ReptiSun 5.0 or Arcadia 6%. Then basking area needs to be about 8-9” below.
What have your temps and humidity been?
What size is that enclosure?
Adding more branches/vines and replacing the fake plants with safe live ones will be appreciated by your guy.
Great place to learn the current husbandry standards is https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
 
MissSkittles said:
That supplement has both Vitamin D3 and preformed vitamin A, both which are fat soluble. It really shouldn’t be used with chameleons, but when it is, it should only be given at one feeding every other week. Your guy has been overdosed with vitamins. You should be using a phosphorus free calcium without D3 at every feeding and then the multivitamin/D3 combo once every other week. Repashy has a nice calcium - Supercal noD. Unfortunately there’s little to be done to get the excess vitamins out of his system. It’ll just take time and very good hydration. For at least the next month or so, don’t give him any more multivitamins - just use the calcium. When you dust, do so lightly. If your feeders look like snowmen, it’s too much.
A visit to a vet with experience with chameleons is still and always a good idea, but do make sure to let them know about the multivitamins. Many automatically assume the chams are vitamin deficient and will give them some.
I do see some other improvements that could be made. Most important would be checking your uvb light. Is it a T5 or T8? What strength bulb is being used? Has it been changed recently? The standard is a T5 with either ReptiSun 5.0 or Arcadia 6%. Then basking area needs to be about 8-9” below.
What have your temps and humidity been?
What size is that enclosure?
Adding more branches/vines and replacing the fake plants with safe live ones will be appreciated by your guy.
Great place to learn the current husbandry standards is https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
Click to expand...
thank you so so muchhhh!! I gave him lots of water today, and i will switch his vitamins to calcium. He isnt eating much since he can't catch them. Should this be better with the new calcium? He has a T5 Reptisun UVB. His basking area is 8-9" maybe a little more or less by an inch or so. The enclosure is a 36x18x18" Zoo Med Repti Breeze. Temps have been good lately.
 
I’m not a vet, so I can’t say if just stopping the multivitamin, starting calcium and extra hydration will be enough. Your cham does not look good and from the behavior you describe, he is not doing well at all. Meaning if you come back in a few days and say that he’s passed away, I won’t be surprised. He really needs a good vet who is experienced and familiar with chameleons. Not only can they properly assess all of him with labs and such, but they can properly treat him and do things like subcutaneous fluids maybe. We can help with a lot of things here, including helping to figure out what may have made your chameleon sick, but we can’t fix him like a good vet can.
 
Yes, the tongue issues are more than likely a direct result from the repashy multivitamin because he is being overdosed on the D3 and A that is in it. I would not use the repashy for at least 4-6 weeks. Go get plain calcium without D3. Only use that at every feeding. You may have to hold the bug to him so he does not have to extend the tongue much.

But I highly advice taking him to a real reptile vet as well and see if he has anything else going on.
 
Per the feeding... my guy has a damaged tongue and aim is terrible. I hand feed him with tongs.
What I've found is that, quite often, he isn't interested in taking food from the tongs.
When that happens I'll take a small dubia roach and let it loose on a branch near him. He'll go into hunting mode.
When he's in this mode, I re-offer him a roach in the tongs (or catch the roach he's hunting) and he takes it every time.
Might be worth trying.

(Oddly enough, I created a zombie thread with an almost identical conversation the other day)
 
@Mark_C I would advise you not to tong feed. iMHO a chameleon can injure its tongue on the tongs.

If your chameleon has poor aim, I would advise you to post which supplements you’re using for your chameleon and how often for each. Also, what do you feed/gut load insects with?
 
Beman said:
Yes, the tongue issues are more than likely a direct result from the repashy multivitamin because he is being overdosed on the D3 and A that is in it. I would not use the repashy for at least 4-6 weeks. Go get plain calcium without D3. Only use that at every feeding. You may have to hold the bug to him so he does not have to extend the tongue much.

But I highly advice taking him to a real reptile vet as well and see if he has anything else going on.
Click to expand...
okay is there a certain brand you would recommend? i want to make sure i get the correct one. thank you so much!
 
MissSkittles said:
I’m not a vet, so I can’t say if just stopping the multivitamin, starting calcium and extra hydration will be enough. Your cham does not look good and from the behavior you describe, he is not doing well at all. Meaning if you come back in a few days and say that he’s passed away, I won’t be surprised. He really needs a good vet who is experienced and familiar with chameleons. Not only can they properly assess all of him with labs and such, but they can properly treat him and do things like subcutaneous fluids maybe. We can help with a lot of things here, including helping to figure out what may have made your chameleon sick, but we can’t fix him like a good vet can.
Click to expand...
yeahhh i was thinking that too. i’ll try to get him to an exotic vet. we don’t have many near where i live though :( .
 
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