Will chameleons shoot out their tongue at an object to gauge it's distance?

[Shilohpsu]

I've noticed Herbert shooting his tongue out at nearby objects that don't resemble food or have any insects on them. He was on top of his cage and was eyeing up a lamp shade that's about 9-10 inches away. Before trying to reach for it, he shot his tongue out at it a couple of times. Another time he was on the goldfish bowl under the lamp and I saw him shoot his tongue out at the black knob that turns it on/off. I assumed that he thought it was food at first, then I saw him do this.

Has anyone else noticed their Cham using its tongue as a measuring stick?

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

Is he standing on the bulb? He's going to get serious burns. Please don't let him do that.

 

[Daypaul]

Yes, I didn't want to say it, but that doesn't look good. How long have you had him/her

 

[Shilohpsu]

Is he standing on the bulb? He's going to get serious burns. Please don't let him do that.

He's not actually on the bulb and he didn't get burnt. The bulb is also a CFL that has a big ceramic base and runs way cooler than a standard incandescent.
(Fun fact: incandescent bulbs are inefficient and waste 95% of the electricity to heat output. Only about 5% of the energy is used to produce visible light)
I can hold my fingers on this bulb without getting burnt, so he wasn't in any danger and wasn't up there very long. In case you don't believe me, here is a closeup of the surface that he was grabbing.

This happened months ago, and he is currently about 10 months old and doing well. So now that we have clarified the "he's getting burnt issue"; Has anyone heard of or seen a chameleon using their tongue to gauge distance?

 

[brownie64]

He probably thinks it is food I highly doubt he would exert that much energy just too gage distance. I believe the tongue is for eating.

 

[Shilohpsu]

He probably thinks it is food I highly doubt he would exert that much energy just too gage distance. I believe the tongue is for eating.

That's what I thought at first, then he climbed up into the lamp after flicking the knob. Then weeks later, he did it to the lamp shade that doesn't look anything like food and had no insects on it. Then proceeded to reach for the lamp shade... Using the tongue to approximate distance was the only thing that I could come up with. Was curious to find out if anyone else has observed their Cham doing something similar.

 

[Little_eazum]

My veiled, almost 3months old, does the same thing outside of his cage. He also flicks my hair when free ranging on my bed lol.

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

He's not actually on the bulb and he didn't get burnt. The bulb is also a CFL that has a big ceramic base and runs way cooler than a standard incandescent.
(Fun fact: incandescent bulbs are inefficient and waste 95% of the electricity to heat output. Only about 5% of the energy is used to produce visible light)
I can hold my fingers on this bulb without getting burnt, so he wasn't in any danger and wasn't up there very long. In case you don't believe me, here is a closeup of the surface that he was grabbing.
View attachment 158867
This happened months ago, and he is currently about 10 months old and doing well. So now that we have clarified the "he's getting burnt issue"; Has anyone heard of or seen a chameleon using their tongue to gauge distance?

No one said he's getting burnt. While I try to give the benefit of doubt to most people on here, you'd be surprised how fast common sense goes out the door when people "play" with their chameleons. I couldn't see that it was a cfl bulb.

 

[Little_eazum]

Nicholas I can agree with you on that and basically everything else involving common sense

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

Nicholas I can agree with you on that and basically everything else involving common sense

For sure. Drives me nuts lol

 

[alphakenc]

Maybe ur cham is a Einstein...."You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat."
It was his theory that the light bulb was invented

 

[KapitalJ]

SMH......

 

[alphakenc]

BMH......

 

[Carlton]

I've noticed Herbert shooting his tongue out at nearby objects that don't resemble food or have any insects on them. He was on top of his cage and was eyeing up a lamp shade that's about 9-10 inches away. Before trying to reach for it, he shot his tongue out at it a couple of times. Another time he was on the goldfish bowl under the lamp and I saw him shoot his tongue out at the black knob that turns it on/off. I assumed that he thought it was food at first, then I saw him do this.
View attachment 158849

Has anyone else noticed their Cham using its tongue as a measuring stick?

Most of my chams have occasionally shot their tongues at non-food objects. I think they are testing it to see if a very shiny thing might be a water droplet. My first veiled would roam the carpets and shoot his tongue at flecks of mica. They have extremely good binocular vision that helps them judge depth and distance, so a tongue shot isn't necessary. Besides, if they used their tongues to judge distance to prey before REALLY shooting to catch, the prey would be long gone.