Tongue or no tongue?

[Redbulllady]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Nosy Be Panther,male. Age 1 year 3 months came to our family one year ago
• Handling - Only when absolutely necessary for cleaning or rescuing from harrowing adventures
• Feeding - He’s been picky for a few months. He will eat small grasshoppers, hornworm treats, super worms, black soldier flies. 4-5 feeders every other day. Got loaded with mixture of greens, hibiscus flower, spirulina, bug burger
• Supplements - reptivite vitamins once every other week, calcium without D3 every feed, calcium with D3 once every other week
• Watering - mist king for 3 mins before lights on/off. Dripper. Yes I see him drink in the mornings
• Fecal Description - Brown, white chalky urate. Occasional orange tint (minimal)
• History - Kammerflage Chameleons is the breeder and they have been excellent. A few minor hemipene bulges around maturity but it went away and was normal after

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - xl reptivbreeze mesh
• Lighting - retptisun 5.0 t5 HO linear, white 80w bulb, 12 on 12 off
• Temperature - floor 72 top 85, night 65. Two digital probes
• Humidity - 50-60 day 80-90 night Misting and wrapping three sides with clear window stuff, digital hygrometer
• Plants - Live plants, pothos, umbrella, prayer
• Placement -living room in corner by window, low traffic, closed vents. On stand top of cage around 6ft from floor
• Location - Arkansas

Current Problem - pics posted. I was watching him drink today while filling up dripper. (Never been that close to him while drinking) It looked weird. He was just licking not shooting. Perhaps that’s just what it looks like? It got me to thinking he’s been super lazy about catching bugs. He’s a little chunky and hasn’t been shooting his tongue at the top of cage to grab free ranging feeders. So I got to worrying it may be nothing, so I tried to look at his tongue to see anything. Not so successful pics but I’ll be watching him eat like a hawk tomorrow. Does this look like a normal retracted tongue? Will try to get pics tomorrow if he shoots.

 

[new chameleon owner888]

my chameleon just waits until i drop water on his mouth but im pretty sure they don't shoot their tongue to drink but im not for sure

 

[Redbulllady]

my chameleon just waits until i drop water on his mouth but im pretty sure they don't shoot their tongue to drink but im not for sure

Ok I wasn’t sure. He’s never shot his tongue to drink but I’ve read some do but (maybe it’s a different species) Thank you for your comment it was comforting

 

[Jpeff]

I've only seen my parson shoot her tongue few times to drink. My others never seen. So probably normal not to shoot to drink. Looks very healthy to me. Can't really see tongue in pics.

 

[MissSkittles]

Not that I’ve ever been granted the privilege of seeing any of my chameleons drink, but I believe some will lap up the drops and some will shoot at them. For eating, my chams do a mixture of shooting at their feeders and getting close up and grabbing them with their mouth. Today it seemed like they all pretty much grabbed at their silkworms but then shot at their crickets.

 

[new chameleon owner888]

Ok I wasn’t sure. He’s never shot his tongue to drink but I’ve read some do but (maybe it’s a different species) Thank you for your comment it was comforting

np and it might be a different species

 

[dinomom]

np and it might be a different species

My veiled does mellers does not its an individual thing

 

[new chameleon owner888]

My veiled does mellers does not its an individual thing

ok thanks

 

[Beman]

It is an individual thing... They will shoot their tongue to drink and they will lick it off surfaces like their branches and leaves.

 

[kinyonga]

Chameleon drinking...
https://sa-chameleons.com/wp-content/uploads/drinking-from-syringe.jpg


You usually should see the tongue. If the chameleon is approaching the insect by moving towards it to get it and not shooting it's tongue out then it's likely/possible that it doesn't have a tongue or that it has a problem shooting the tongue out.

There is still a slight chance that it's drinking without showing the tongue...never say never with chameleons.

He could have injured his tongue if he shoots it at the screen.

 

[Redbulllady]

I've only seen my parson shoot her tongue few times to drink. My others never seen. So probably normal not to shoot to drink. Looks very healthy to me. Can't really see tongue in pics.

Thank you he’s my first so I’m still learning! I appreciate your info and I’m glad he looks healthy to you.

 

[Redbulllady]

Not that I’ve ever been granted the privilege of seeing any of my chameleons drink, but I believe some will lap up the drops and some will shoot at them. For eating, my chams do a mixture of shooting at their feeders and getting close up and grabbing them with their mouth. Today it seemed like they all pretty much grabbed at their silkworms but then shot at their crickets.

Haha he’s usually shy. The mister only ran half cycle so he was thirsty I guess. Thank you I didn’t know they grab often. He only shot in the past unless they were super close.

 

[Morpheo's Mom]

I have only ever saw my chameleon shoot his tongue at water droplets. I suspected it was due to him not having a good position to lap water up like I've seen in videos on this site. When I finally found the perfect leaf and dribbled water on to see if he would lick he ended up eating the leaf

 

[Redbulllady]

Chameleon drinking...
https://sa-chameleons.com/wp-content/uploads/drinking-from-syringe.jpg


You usually should see the tongue. If the chameleon is approaching the insect by moving towards it to get it and not shooting it's tongue out then it's likely/possible that it doesn't have a tongue or that it has a problem shooting the tongue out.

There is still a slight chance that it's drinking without showing the tongue...never say never with chameleons.

He could have injured his tongue if he shoots it at the screen.

Thank you for the video. Maybe it was an odd angle i was looking from? I will keep my eye out. Haha yes they are so weird sometimes. I hope there is no injury but that’s what I was worried about.

 

[Redbulllady]

I have only ever saw my chameleon shoot his tongue at water droplets. I suspected it was due to him not having a good position to lap water up like I've seen in videos on this site. When I finally found the perfect leaf and dribbled water on to see if he would lick he ended up eating the leaf

Haha! I would love to watch that! Do you have a veiled? So far no plant munching over here! Do you find it hard to keep his plants alive or is it mild grazing?

 

[Redbulllady]

It is an individual thing... They will shoot their tongue to drink and they will lick it off surfaces like their branches and leaves.

I guess they all have their personalities like we do thank you for your feedback

 

[CalamityCrow]

Lol I have only ever seen my guy drinking once but he licked at it. My dad had a cham that would come out of the cage every day onto your hand and wait for you to drip water in a tiny dripping/trickle from a water bottle. He'd both just stick the end of his tongue out to drink it, and from time to time do a slow "shoot" and tap the end of his tongue against the bottle's lid which was a couple inches away... seemed entirely functional for him. It was actually pretty fun to water him that way, though this was before my dad knew the most ideal way to take care of chams. Either way, he'd drink until he didn't want any anymore, and his urates were always white, so it seemed to work out.

 

[Morpheo's Mom]

Haha! I would love to watch that! Do you have a veiled? So far no plant munching over here! Do you find it hard to keep his plants alive or is it mild grazing?

I do have a veiled. Thankfully mild grazing. There have been a few leaves I think he had a personal vendetta against and completely devoured them. Others just have 1 or 2 bites taken out of them. Here is a pic of one

 

[Morpheo's Mom]

Chameleon drinking...
https://sa-chameleons.com/wp-content/uploads/drinking-from-syringe.jpg


You usually should see the tongue. If the chameleon is approaching the insect by moving towards it to get it and not shooting it's tongue out then it's likely/possible that it doesn't have a tongue or that it has a problem shooting the tongue out.

There is still a slight chance that it's drinking without showing the tongue...never say never with chameleons.

He could have injured his tongue if he shoots it at the screen.

Wow! I feel it would take a lot of trust to have a chameleon drink by spray bottle.