Tongue!

[Jen0413]

Oh no! I think Espio somehow hyper-extended his tongue. He was fine when I left for work and when I got home I noticed his mouth looked funny. I was able to get him to open it a little and noticed his tongue is all stretched out. He has been keeping it in his mouth, so it's not hanging down. I've gotten him to drink a little bit of water too. I'm taking him to the vet first thing tomorrow morning when they open, but is there anything I can do for him before then? I read about putting him in a small container with water in the bottom to keep it moist, but should I do that if his tongue isn't hanging out? I'm so worried about him! Please share any advice and send good thoughts our way.

 

[Sanababit]

Well if its not hanging out, then is being kept moist inside its mouth, so if you dont see it out then you just have to hang in there till the visit tomorrow, good luck, all will be ok

Sana

 

[carol5208]

That would be for if the tongue is not retracting back in the mouth where you would keep it wet. How do you know it is stretched out, if it is inside his mouth?. Just curious..

 

[Jen0413]

Any time he does open his mouth either to drink or because he's climbing downwards his tongue falls out and he has to chase it to get it back in. We have a vet visit at 3 30 today, so hopefully they'll be able to help. I'm worried it hasn't fixed itself because when I was reading about it they said it normally does.

 

[camimom]

Any time he does open his mouth either to drink or because he's climbing downwards his tongue falls out and he has to chase it to get it back in. We have a vet visit at 3 30 today, so hopefully they'll be able to help. I'm worried it hasn't fixed itself because when I was reading about it they said it normally does.

its really dependent on the type of injury. however, if its not hanging out, that's a good sign, somewhat.

if the vet cant fix it, then the only option is to remove the tongue.

the cham can still live a normal life, you just have to adjust your watering and feeding technique.

I recently had a cham who had his tongue removed, and there are a couple members on here who have chams with no tongues.

unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot that can be tongue when a tongue gets injured.

 

[Jen0413]

Any idea how much the cost is to remove the tongue? My husband and I have a pretty good savings for emergencies so we should be ok. I was just wondering what to expect if that's the option

 

[camimom]

Any idea how much the cost is to remove the tongue? My husband and I have a pretty good savings for emergencies so we should be ok. I was just wondering what to expect if that's the option

for me total cost, including the original vet visit, and then the surgery, was 350.

 

[Jen0413]

Fort Collins doesn't have a bunch of chameleon experience, but the vet I take my dog too does have a reptile vet. We've never seen him before but since the tongue thing was kind of an emergency and they could get me in today- that is where we went. My confidence plummeted when the first thing the vet said was, "I haven't worked with many Old World chameleons before." Awesome. He's thinking that the tongue thing is due to either a calcium deficiency or an abscess in Espio's mouth. He gave me Calcium Glucionate to give Espio for 30 days and an antibiotic called Baytril to give for 7 days in case of an abscess. When I told him my worries about Espio not being able to eat with his tongue all messed up, he gave me Critical Care Fine Grane for herbivores. It's basically a powdered food that I mix with water and give him via a syringe.

Espio has never showed any signs of calcium deficiency/ MBD. His grip is good, he has his UVB light on for 12 hours a day, and he gets Calcium w/o D3 everyday, Calcium w/ D3 every 2 weeks, and /reptivite every two weeks. Do you think he has MDB? I've attached some pictures I took of him today. I tried to focus on his legs. Could MDB cause problems with his tongue??

Also, as terrible as this sounds, is what the vet having me do good? I'm worried about trusting him since he said he doesn't have much experience.

Thanks for the input! Please keep my Espio in your thoughts and prayers.

 

[camimom]

Your Cham does not have mbd.

The tongue issue is probably from hyperextension, or it got caught on something and your Cham pulled it, injuring the muscles and nerves needed to retract it properly.

You need to locate another vet, asap.

I found my Cham with a swollen tongue, took him to the vet two days later, and that evening he spat his tongue out, and by the next morning we were back at the vets for amputation.

My vet only wanted to wait a week to do the surgery.

Since my guy had spat it out, I had to wake up every hour to put water on the tongue so it wouldn't dry out.


He can live a normal life without it, but I don't think he can go 30 days.

Shop around for a vet

 

[Scoobthenoob]

On the + side

You got Antibiotics, but yes I would locate another vet..

The food he gave you is for herbivores, however if it has sound nutritional value this is nourishment.


Recipies

You can use a combination of the below ingredients to create a nutritional slurry for your chameleon that can be administered through an eyedropper!

Ensure Plus - found at any drug store (the "plus" version has extra calories)

Pulverized dried flies - found at any pet store

Liquid calcium (calcium sandoz)

Pedialite

Baby food - use high protein varieties only (veal, & lamb!)

Carrot baby food, apple sauce (for hydration)

Feeding Method

Place a drop of food on your chameleon's mouth and gently tug on your chameleon's gullar crest. It may take a moment, but he will open his mouth and get a taste of the food. It takes coordination, but with practice, you will be able to drop food in his mouth between chews!

NEVER drop food down your chameleon's throat. You want to place it in his mouth or tongue. Doing anything else can cause your chameleon great stress or to choak!#


Thanks to http://webhome.idirect.com/~chameleon/owners/chapter5-sub5.html

 

[carol5208]

I agree, no MBD and find another vet!

 

[Jen0413]

Update!

I was finally able to find a vet with some chameleon knowledge. It's the CSU (Colorado State University) vet hospital. They take care of all of the Zoo's reptiles, including chameleons. The soonest they were able to get me in is tomorrow morning. I'm worried since it's been a week since Espio initially injured his tongue. The past two days he's become lethargic. He refuses to take his medicine, but he will eat the powdered food the 1st vet gave us and drink some water about once a day. He's only pooped once in the past week (since he hasn't really been eating) and his urate was dehydrated. Poor baby seems so uncomfortable. He's started just keeping his mouth closed and only opening it when his head is pointed up so his tongue doesn't fall out. I haven't gotten a good look at it in the past couple days, but the glimpses I do get make it seem like it's still screwed up. Keep him in your thoughts, and I'll let everyone know what the vet says tomorrow morning.

 

[little leaf]

hang in there , keep us posted - sending prayers for your little guy