Veiled Cant shoot his tongue!

[Kodak]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Male, 2 years old, been in my care for 1,5y
• Handling - Never
• Feeding - Dubias mostly, gutloaded with a dry mix of alfalfa, bee pollen, carrots, spirulina, kelp, corn, hemp seeds, peas, pump seeds, raspberry leafs, rose hip, all that good shit. I present food to him every other day but he doesnt always eat when its presented. He eats atleast 2-3 times a week, ca 4 semi/adult dubias.
• Supplements - Exo-terra multivitamin, miner all calcium and a calcium with D3, the latter is not a miner-all product and contains 10% phosphorus. multivitamin every 14 days, calcium miner all on every feeding and vitamin with D3 usually 1 time a week.
• Watering - I spray his setup 2 times a day for about a minute and spray a soft beam into his mouth, because (in my experience) trusting that he will drink droplets to fullfill his water needs has led to yellow/brownish urine in the past.
• Fecal Description - black firm 2cm long droppings, i reckon its normal. never tested for parasites.
• History - When i first got him his tongue was working for about 3 months. Then this problem came. During this period he was eating 10 crickets everyday and i made the mistake of sometimes feeding to large crickets. Which may be a factor in this problem?

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - I have since 6 months ago, free ranged him because he was so stressed in his previous enclosure. This free-range setup consists of vines and sticks glued onto a 160cm (63 inches) long plastic tree which branches out in a width of around 80 cm (30 inches). He doesnt display the stressed behaviour anymore so i guess hes content.
• Lighting - I use a 35w HID lamp from reptech, roughly 30cm (12 inches) away, its on for 12hours
• Temperature - The basking spot has a temperature of 32 C (90F) and the lowest point of the setup has a temperature of 24C (75F). During the night I slighty open the window for 2 hours to drop the temperature to 20-22C (68-71.5F) depending on how cold it is outside. I use a digitial thermometer.
• Humidity - My hygrometer got broken so im kinda winging it now until i remind myself to buy a new one, but i mist for one mintue 2 times a day.
• Plants - No
• Placement - In bedroom near windows thers no traffic, no fans, no drag, the windows are tightly sealed when closed.
• Location - Scandinavia

So the problem is with his tongue. As you can read in the history part hes had it since he was young. He tries to shoot his tongue and just when he extends it his tongue angles itself upwards and gets retracted.

heres a video of it : https://imgur.com/a/oIycl

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

I see that. I am not really sure, is there anything in his mouth that you can see? How long has his tongue been this way? I don't see how the large crickets would be a problem, usually they are just more difficult for the cham to eat, but I could be wrong. Do you know how the problem was fixed when he was a baby?

 

[Kodak]

No, his mouth and gum look healthy white/pinkish with no signs of any rot or wounds. His tongue have been like this for a little more than a year or so. He didnt have this problem when he was a baby, he could shoot his tongue with no problems. The issues started after 2-3 months in my care.

 

[kinyonga]

Tongue issues can be from an injury, infection, imbalance of nutrients (phosphorus, calcium, D3, vitamin A) or even dehydration.

You said your powder with the D3 in it has phosphorous...there shouldn't be any phosphorous in the supplements because there's already more than enough the insects. What is the source of vitamin A in the vitamin powder? Is there any D3 in the vitamin powder?
What specifically do you feed/gutload the insects with?

Is the light you talk about a UVB light? Are the lights on at night? What color light does the basking light produce?

I would set up a dripper to run most of the day to help with hydration.

You said..." I have since 6 months ago, free ranged him because he was so stressed in his previous enclosure"...how does he get UVB light when he's free ranged? How does he basking when he's free ranged? How long is he out in the free range area? If he's not able to basking that might be why his appetite isn't big.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

How is he eating? I am curious

 

[Kodak]

What is the source of vitamin A in the vitamin powder? Is there any D3 in the vitamin powder?
What specifically do you feed/gutload the insects with?

The source of Vitamin A is beta carotene. From the the manufacturers analysis there is 4.082 mg/lb betacarotene and 0,09 mg Vitamin A. It does contain Vitamin D3 and from the analysis there is 22,000 IU/kg Vitamin D3. As stated in the form the gutload is a dry mix of alfalfa, bee pollen, carrots, spirulina, kelp, corn, hemp seeds, peas, pumpkin seeds, raspberry leafs, rose hip, marigold etc. There is always watercrystals present in the feeder bin.

Is the light you talk about a UVB light? Are the lights on at night? What color light does the basking light produce?

The lamp is a HID lamp and got UVA+UVB and also produces heat. The UVB is 115uW/cm2 with a UVB index of 5 at its current height. The color light is not specified by the manufacturer. The light is on a 12h timer and is not on during the day

I would set up a dripper to run most of the day to help with hydration.

I dont think hes dehydrated, his eyes are not sunken in and his urinates are pure white. As I said, I make him drink atleast 2 times a day.

You said..." I have since 6 months ago, free ranged him because he was so stressed in his previous enclosure"...how does he get UVB light when he's free ranged? How does he basking when he's free ranged? How long is he out in the free range area? If he's not able to basking that might be why his appetite isn't big.

I may have used the wrong word here, sorry for the confusion. So the setup he's in right now is a plastic tree thats 160cm (63 inches) long and branches out in a width of around 80 cm (30 inches) with various vines and sticks in it. The light is mounted above it. He spends his days basking at the top of the tree where its 90F and climbs down to the mid section of the tree to cool off in intervals.

How is he eating? I am curious

He gets very close to the prey then he sticks his tongue out a little bit and when its sticks to his tongue he eats it. In the video you can see that he can stick it out a little, I moved the food cup away in the video so you guys could see what happens when he tries to shoot his tongue, but otherwise i bring the cup closer so he can eat.

 

[GwynT]

When was the last time you changed the uvb light? They generally don't give as much UVB after around 6 months and need replaced. Also, since he's free-range, are you sure he's under the UVB light often enough? From what I've read, it could stem from UVB/vitamin deficiency, to a physical defect. A vet visit is often recommended.