Tongue problems?

Ricardopalma12

Ricardopalma12

Member
So my veiled chameleon i think she is between 4 or 5 months and she is great at hunting or was... I recently noticed she hasn't been eating crickets no matter how close they are I tried worms too and she would try to eat them without using her tongue and I'm worried now because she doesnt let me put the food on her mouth and I dont see any other option besides feeding her like that but yall may help me, she also doesnt drink as much water and she does look dehydrated please help

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon, female, she is around 5 months I think. I think it's about 3 months with me now
  • Handling - maybe once a week
  • Feeding - I'm feeding her with 5 crickets daily unless she seems to not be hungry one day. Her schedule is usually around 5 or 5:30 pm when I get home from school. I feed my crickets with apples or grapes sometimes
  • Supplements - I use fluckers calcium and mostly like 3-5 times a week and I have reptivite multivitamin with d3 that I feed her once a month
  • Watering - I spray couple times for like 2 minutes and I havent seen her drink from the leafs or anything like that but sometimes she comes to the spray bottle and starts to "lick" the water drops from it
  • Fecal Description - I havent seen Amy recent once but after they are dry they look like a big brown ball with some type of white and yellowish color dust

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - screen cage 2x2x4
  • Lighting -ubv light zoomed reptisun 5.0 I think it was 5.0, and I cant remember the basking bulb was.
  • Temperature - during day its around the 75 degrees and at night it's my house tempetarature it normally stays around 72-74
  • Humidity - I dont know what the humidity level is and I dont have a humidifier but I have live plants on her cage I heard they keep humidity
  • Plants - I have an umbrella plant and other type that I can't remember (I did research before putting it in her cage and said it was safe)
  • Placement - the cage is located in my room there is a fan that its normally on and the air conditioning vents are pointing towards my bed opposite direction my chameleons cage) and the cages top is 4 feet away from the floor for now.
  • Location - I'm in Austin Texas

Current Problem - I havent seen her eat like she used to before she doesnt hunt no more and when she sees food she tries to eat them without using her tongue, she would get close to the food and try to grabbed it with her mouth
 
Last edited:
Could you fill out the ask for help form and post a pic of your cham and her enclosure, please?
 
fill out the form so we can help and maybe try to feed her a treat like a hornworm, I have a feeling that a feeder could have bit her tongue but if it doesn't get better take her to the vet
 
Tongue issues are almost always due to an injury or improper supplements/nutrients. We really need that help form and pics to narrow it down any further than that.
 
multivitamin and d3 should be every two weeks and supplementation seems fine but its a good idea to vary up the diet, use BSF/ BSFL, roaches, silk worms and/or other types of nutritional worms (excluding mealworms and waxworms) (wax worms are too high in fat and can be an occasional treat
 
Thehippie said:
multivitamin and d3 should be every two weeks and supplementation seems fine but its a good idea to vary up the diet, use BSF/ BSFL, roaches, silk worms and/or other types of nutritional worms (excluding mealworms and waxworms) (wax worms are too high in fat and can be an occasional treat
Click to expand...

I appreciate the help, I will give her multivitamin every 2 weeks and also theres this worm package that is meant to have chameleon worms at Petco so you think that would work?
 
Ricardopalma12 said:
So my veiled chameleon i think she is between 4 or 5 months and she is great at hunting or was... I recently noticed she hasn't been eating crickets no matter how close they are I tried worms too and she would try to eat them without using her tongue and I'm worried now because she doesnt let me put the food on her mouth and I dont see any other option besides feeding her like that but yall may help me, she also doesnt drink as much water and she does look dehydrated please help

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon, female, she is around 5 months I think. I think it's about 3 months with me now
  • Handling - maybe once a week
  • Feeding - I'm feeding her with 5 crickets daily unless she seems to not be hungry one day. Her schedule is usually around 5 or 5:30 pm when I get home from school. I feed my crickets with apples or grapes sometimes
  • Supplements - I use fluckers calcium and mostly like 3-5 times a week and I have reptivite multivitamin with d3 that I feed her once a month
  • Watering - I spray couple times for like 2 minutes and I havent seen her drink from the leafs or anything like that but sometimes she comes to the spray bottle and starts to "lick" the water drops from it
  • Fecal Description - I havent seen Amy recent once but after they are dry they look like a big brown ball with some type of white and yellowish color dust

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - screen cage 2x2x4
  • Lighting -ubv light zoomed reptisun 5.0 I think it was 5.0, and I cant remember the basking bulb was.
  • Temperature - during day its around the 75 degrees and at night it's my house tempetarature it normally stays around 72-74
  • Humidity - I dont know what the humidity level is and I dont have a humidifier but I have live plants on her cage I heard they keep humidity
  • Plants - I have an umbrella plant and other type that I can't remember (I did research before putting it in her cage and said it was safe)
  • Placement - the cage is located in my room there is a fan that its normally on and the air conditioning vents are pointing towards my bed opposite direction my chameleons cage) and the cages top is 4 feet away from the floor for now.
  • Location - I'm in Austin Texas

Current Problem - I havent seen her eat like she used to before she doesnt hunt no more and when she sees food she tries to eat them without using her tongue, she would get close to the food and try to grabbed it with her mouth
Click to expand...
She needs more food than that, give her as much as she’ll eat at that age. Feed in the morning, as chams need to be able to bask and digest in the second half of the day. Get either a quality commercial gutload, like Repashy, Mazuri, Cricket Crack, or Pangea, and/or add in more organic fresh fruits and veggies into what you feed now (there’s a gutload list in food and nutrition in the resources tab here). Phosphorous free calcium without D3 should be given every feeding and a multivitamin with D3 (like Zoo Med Reptivite with D3) should be given every two weeks. She needs to misted at least 3 times a day for at least 2, but preferably 5, minutes each time. Invest in an automated mister like a MistKing. Yellow in the urate usually means a cham is dehydrated. Have you had a fecal done on her? Get either a t5HO or T8 linear uvb bulb and fixture, get a Zoo Med 10.0 linear bulb. She needs a basking spot of 85*F. Go to the hardware store and get a digital thermometer/hygrometer combo for ambient temp and humidity. Humidity should be between 40-70%. Could you post a pic of her and her enclosure, please? Does she have a lay bin? Female veileds can develop eggs as early as 4-6 months old
 
Ricardopalma12 said:
I appreciate the help, I will give her multivitamin every 2 weeks and also theres this worm package that is meant to have chameleon worms at Petco so you think that would work?
Click to expand...
What’s in the worm package? Great feeders are appropriately sized silkworms, hornworms, butterworms, the occasional superworm, crickets, roaches (dubia, red runner, orange headed, and ivory headed cannot climb or fly), black soldier flies and larvae, blue bottle flies, mantids, stick insects, and small helix aspersa, amongst others.
 
ERKleRose said:
She needs more food than that, give her as much as she’ll eat at that age. Feed in the morning, as chams need to be able to bask and digest in the second half of the day. Get either a quality commercial gutload, like Repashy, Mazuri, Cricket Crack, or Pangea, and/or add in more organic fresh fruits and veggies into what you feed now (there’s a gutload list in food and nutrition in the resources tab here). Phosphorous free calcium without D3 should be given every feeding and a multivitamin with D3 (like Zoo Med Reptivite with D3) should be given every two weeks. She needs to misted at least 3 times a day for at least 2, but preferably 5, minutes each time. Invest in an automated mister like a MistKing. Yellow in the urate usually means a cham is dehydrated. Have you had a fecal done on her? Get either a t5HO or T8 linear uvb bulb and fixture, get a Zoo Med 10.0 linear bulb. She needs a basking spot of 85*F. Go to the hardware store and get a digital thermometer/hygrometer combo for ambient temp and humidity. Humidity should be between 40-70%. Could you post a pic of her and her enclosure, please? Does she have a lay bin? Female veileds can develop eggs as early as 4-6 months old
Click to expand...
She has 5 inches of substrate at the bottom of her cage
 

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ERKleRose said:
What’s in the worm package? Great feeders are appropriately sized silkworms, hornworms, butterworms, the occasional superworm, crickets, roaches (dubia, red runner, orange headed, and ivory headed cannot climb or fly), black soldier flies and larvae, blue bottle flies, mantids, stick insects, and small helix aspersa, amongst others.
Click to expand...
I cant remember I believe its silkworms wax worms and other type plus super worms
 
Add more branches and vines, mostly horizontal, everywhere throughout her cage, along with more plants/plant cover- real or fake but preferably real. Make sure all plants are cham safe. Get a linear uvb bulb and fixture and take the crickets out of her cage. Get a proper lay bin/area in there. Get a drainage system as well
 
ERKleRose said:
Add more branches and vines, mostly horizontal, everywhere throughout her cage, along with more plants/plant cover- real or fake but preferably real. Make sure all plants are cham safe. Get a linear uvb bulb and fixture and take the crickets out of her cage. Get a proper lay bin/are in there. Get a drainage system as well
Click to expand...
Looks like I have some work to do! Thank you a lot
 
yes I agree with brody, she will need worms but it also can be cheaper to order online, this doesn't mean wait til they come tho, buy the worms and crickets at Petco and make sure you are feeding her a good amount I'm sure she needs it, wax worms are good for fattening but right now she needs nutrition go for roaches if you can order online
 
along with that she definitely needs a lay bin, make sure you aren't feeding apple and grape every day or even every week the high sugar content can be fattening and bad for her health instead maybe try spinach or collard greens those are a great source of nutrients too
 
Feeders properly gutloaded given to her as much as she’ll eat is extremely important. Next step is fixing the cage and the rest of your husbandry. Order the other feeders, but no need to freak out about feeders, crickets properly gutloaded are perfectly fine
 
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