Tongue fell out! Wtf!

Your Chameleon - Leif Erikson is a Male ambilobe panther, hes about 7 months old and we got him 6/28/2020.
Handling - I plan to handle him only when absolutely necessary, so far I have not touched him, only coaxed him onto sticks to get him out in order to rearrange his habitat a bit.
Feeding - 5-8 large crickets or dubias or combination thereof plus 1 or 2 superworms daily. We gut load with pangea roach and cricket food, kale, carrots, apples and sweet potato.
Supplements - flukers without d3 everyday except 2 days a month when he gets reptivite with d3
Watering - I hand mist about 3 or 4 times a day and also run a big dripper on 1 drip per second for about 2 hours a day. I have seen him drink.
Fecal Description - size and shape of a young childs pinkie, about 80% brown, 20% white urate, overall moist, no mucus
History - he came directly from a local breeder, where he was bred. His sire was onsite and in fantastic health, as well as a few half brothers from previous clutches and a few brothers and sisters from his own clutch.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - screened enclosure, 2×2×4, sitting on an 18" high table.
Lighting - 48" htg double bulb t5 HO fixture, with 1 uva spectrum+ ho bulb and 1 arcadia 6% t5 ho bulb. I also have 40w halogen basking bulb.
Temperature - basking area is 83, 8" from bottom of cage is 75, measured with digital probe thermometers. I live in coastal SC so ambient temp in my home is typically 78 this time of year.
Humidity - digital hygrometer in center of cage, away from dripper reads consistently between 55 and 67%. Ambient humidity in my home is about 50-55, so the levels in his enclosure are easily maintained with live plants and misting a few times a day.
Plants - all live, pothos, nerve plant, hoya, dracaena, hibiscus, staghorn fern, burgundy rubber plant.
Placement - cage is in front of a wes facing window with a light filtering shade drawn halfway. It has air flow on all sides, the top of the cage is 5.5 feet from the floor.
Location - Coastal South Carolina
Problem: up until a few days ago he was very shy and I hardly saw him move at all, although his location would change slightly 2 or 3 times a day so I knew he was moving. Now hes been more active, eating consistently, drinking occasionally (still a shy drinker). I've watched him climb downward to poo a few times(all normal) and see him bask periodically. But just now as I was watching him and misting his cage, he 'yawned'(i saw him do this yesterday too, I'm thinking hes getting ready for a shed bc he hasn't yet and we've had him 3 weeks) but HIS TONGUE FELL OUT! it landed on the branch he was sitting on and when he was done 'yawning', he did pull it back in, but the way it just fell out, like he had vomited was extremely alarming. He was facing downward when it happened, but please tell me hes ok?! He has a wellness appt including fecal next Wednesday but I'm freaked out?
 
Never seen anything like this with my panther - cup feeding or free roam? Maybe he damaged his tongue feeding?

But if he using it with no issues after, he is prob ok. Hope that it doesnt happen again.
 
Never seen anything like this with my panther - cup feeding or free roam? Maybe he damaged his tongue feeding?

But if he using it with no issues after, he is prob ok. Hope that it doesnt happen again.
A little bit of both. I kind of place the feeders on the screen near him. He had just eaten maybe an hour before the incident, and he seemed totally fine, no tongue issues then. I'll try feeding him again before bed and hopefully hes OK ?
 
You didn't have to give him a hornworm did you? You should not be feeding right before bedtime because he doesn't have time to properly digest his food. I don't feed mine anything after 1:00pm
 
You didn't have to give him a hornworm did you? You should not be feeding right before bedtime because he doesn't have time to properly digest his food. I don't feed mine anything after 1:00pm
No he hasnt tried hornworms yet. Out of curiosity, why would that matter? I only meant before bedtime, not like RIGHT before bed. He wouldn't eat that late in the day anyway.
 
Because horn worms can hang on to a branch or screen really tight and a many chameleon have hurt their tongues that very way trying to shoot. Look just trying to help and it does matter what I was telling you. Hope your chameleon feels better
 
Because horn worms can hang on to a branch or screen really tight and a many chameleon have hurt their tongues that very way trying to shoot. Look just trying to help and it does matter what I was telling you. Hope your chameleon feels better
I think you misinterpreted my response, no attitude intended. I was just genuinely curious about the hornworms thing. Thanks for the info!
 
I've never heard of a tongue falling out with a yawn...but I wouldn't be surprised if it could do that if he was really relaxed when he yawned.

More thoughts on the matter though...if he was yawning/gaping because the tongue was sitting in the "pouch" where it's stored, in an uncomfortable way or something was stuck in the "pouch" with it and he let it drop out on purpose trying to adjust it then there might be a problem.

The tongue normally can fall out like that if the muscle has been damaged/overstretched.

If he can shoot it out fully and it goes right back in properly after then I wouldn't worry. If he has trouble shooting it in and out or seems to be moving it around in the gular pouch area then let us know right away.

The tongues do fall out of their mouths when they are put under anesthetic and you have to be careful that they don't bite it off when they're waking up. (We used to put a pencil or something between the teeth near the jaw joint when one was put under to stop the mouth from shutting on the tongue.)

So...let us know what happens next time he eats or if the tongue won't shoot out or stay in at any point to.

Let's hope there is no issue!
 
I've never heard of a tongue falling out with a yawn...but I wouldn't be surprised if it could do that if he was really relaxed when he yawned.

More thoughts on the matter though...if he was yawning/gaping because the tongue was sitting in the "pouch" where it's stored, in an uncomfortable way or something was stuck in the "pouch" with it and he let it drop out on purpose trying to adjust it then there might be a problem.

The tongue normally can fall out like that if the muscle has been damaged/overstretched.

If he can shoot it out fully and it goes right back in properly after then I wouldn't worry. If he has trouble shooting it in and out or seems to be moving it around in the gular pouch area then let us know right away.

The tongues do fall out of their mouths when they are put under anesthetic and you have to be careful that they don't bite it off when they're waking up. (We used to put a pencil or something between the teeth near the jaw joint when one was put under to stop the mouth from shutting on the tongue.)

So...let us know what happens next time he eats or if the tongue won't shoot out or stay in at any point to.

Let's hope there is no issue!
Yes I was just going to say if you see him have trouble eating in the next week then take more action. If all is good then I think he'll be fine
 
I've never heard of a tongue falling out with a yawn...but I wouldn't be surprised if it could do that if he was really relaxed when he yawned.

More thoughts on the matter though...if he was yawning/gaping because the tongue was sitting in the "pouch" where it's stored, in an uncomfortable way or something was stuck in the "pouch" with it and he let it drop out on purpose trying to adjust it then there might be a problem.

The tongue normally can fall out like that if the muscle has been damaged/overstretched.

If he can shoot it out fully and it goes right back in properly after then I wouldn't worry. If he has trouble shooting it in and out or seems to be moving it around in the gular pouch area then let us know right away.

The tongues do fall out of their mouths when they are put under anesthetic and you have to be careful that they don't bite it off when they're waking up. (We used to put a pencil or something between the teeth near the jaw joint when one was put under to stop the mouth from shutting on the tongue.)

So...let us know what happens next time he eats or if the tongue won't shoot out or stay in at any point to.

Let's hope there is no issue!
Thank you so much! In hindsight I'm very glad he got it back in quickly and didn't bite down on it. The mid section is SO thin, I can see how that could easily happen? I will definitely keep an eye on it. Hes been totally normal otherwise, fingers crossed it was just a fluke. I'll update tomorrow after his brunch (his favorite time of day to eat seems to be 10:30/11a?).
 
Do you gutload the insects with things like dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, sweet red peppers, sweet potato, and a small amount of apples, pears, berries, papaya, etc?
 
Do you gutload the insects with things like dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, sweet red peppers, sweet potato, and a small amount of apples, pears, berries, papaya, etc?
Pangea insect gutload plus kale, carrot, blueberry, sweet potato and apple.
 
Come on... This hasn't happened to anyone (else) here the morning after a night out? :p

I've never heard of a tongue falling out with a yawn...but I wouldn't be surprised if it could do that if he was really relaxed when he yawned.
....
If he can shoot it out fully and it goes right back in properly after then I wouldn't worry.
....
Let's hope there is no issue!
+1 (y)
Keep an eye on him, and see if it happens again... If it does, a call to the vet couldn't hurt.
...And by all means, get video if you can! Assuming there's nothing seriously wrong, it sounds funny as heck. :LOL:

EDIT: In looking for anything describing this, I find mention of calcium deficiency possibly causing a limp tongue, but since he pulled it back in, it doesn't sound like that.

Found this though...
 
Come on... This hasn't happened to anyone (else) here the morning after a night out? :p


+1 (y)
Keep an eye on him, and see if it happens again... If it does, a call to the vet couldn't hurt.
...And by all means, get video if you can! Assuming there's nothing seriously wrong, it sounds funny as heck. :LOL:

EDIT: In looking for anything describing this, I find mention of calcium deficiency possibly causing a limp tongue, but since he pulled it back in, it doesn't sound like that.

Found this though...

She loves the looks of her tongue lol.
 
Update! He seems to be fine today, I fed him some dubias with no issue. Sorry for freaking out but watching a chameleons tongue just casually fall out and seeing how thin and fragile it is.... well it was just bizzare!
Lets hope it continues to stay ok! Could have been a bit of something stuck to the tongue or in where the tongue is stored and it's dislodged now.
 
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