Won’t shoot tongue

[Weebo]

Hello I have a 3 year old veiled chameleon who just recently stopped shooting his tongue. He always got real close to eat but lately he is trying to just bite crickets and having a hard time getting them.

I have a dragon strand atrium with a quad fixture. 6500K bulbs and a a D3 bulb. A basking light on one side at about 90 degrees. Regular misting schedule with a pro mist system. I powder his food on a schedule with D3, non D3, and multivitamin. I can’t imagine why he’d be sick. Any ideas from members?

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. Has he had any super worms or hornworms lately? Sometimes they can bite your cham and could have bitten his tongue. Also, hornworms can stick pretty well to things and give your cham a hard time retracting the tongue, which could cause an injury.

 

[Randers88]

What is your supplement schedule? How old is your UVB bulb? What are you feeding your cham?

 

[Weebo]

What is your supplement schedule? How old is your UVB bulb? What are you feeding your cham?

Non D3 powder every feeding (every other day)
D3 powder twice a month
Multivitamin once every 3 weeks

UVB bulb was just replaced. Old one was a year old. It’s an Arcadia 12% bulb

I only feed crickets. Once in a while I get superworms for a treat but that’s maybe once a month

 

[Randers88]

Non D3 powder every feeding (every other day)
D3 powder twice a month
Multivitamin once every 3 weeks

UVB bulb was just replaced. Old one was a year old. It’s an Arcadia 12% bulb

I only feed crickets. Once in a while I get superworms for a treat but that’s maybe once a month

Are you able to get a view inside his mouth to check for a possible tongue injury?

 

[Weebo]

Are you able to get a view inside his mouth to check for a possible tongue injury?

I don’t think it’s an injury. I’ve slowly been noticing him use his tongue less....getting much closer to the crickets and barely using his tongue. But now his last 2 feedings he isn’t using it at all

 

[NashansCamos]

Can we see some photos of him/his mouth

 

[Randers88]

I was actually just in a thread where @nightanole informed me that Veileds don't actually need 12% / 10.0 bulbs. I've heard of this issue being the result of over supplementation but I don't see anything to concerning with your schedule.

 

[Weebo]

I was actually just in a thread where @nightanole informed me that Veileds don't actually need 12% / 10.0 bulbs. I've heard of this issue being the result of over supplementation but I don't see anything to concerning with your schedule.

Hm. Maybe switch to the 6% Arcadia?

 

[Deejay]

Try a few wax worms for a treat. That will stimulate the sticky tongue into action. ?

 

[Randers88]

Hm. Maybe switch to the 6% Arcadia?

I'd wait until you hear from more experienced keepers. I'm not familiar with Veiled care enough to instruct you to change anything. That's the problem with these animals, two much of something could show the same signs as too little.

 

[nightanole]

Hm. Maybe switch to the 6% Arcadia?

d3 twice a month combined with a 12%/10.0 T5HO will start to develop edema in a few months. So its possible that he has got some neck/chin swelling that is not to the point you can see it (unless you stare at the cham daily and can notice small changes).

The issue is not "12% is bad", the issue is mixing UVI 3.0+ (aka outdoor light) with the normal D3 twice a month (indoor schedule). But i always tell people to get a meter with their 12%/10.0 so they can tune and know what they are getting. That D3 supplement sched works with bulbs that are 10x less powerful than the 12%.
Here is some D3 powders:

RepCal D3+ 400,000 IU/kg
Flukers Reptacalcium 100,000 IU/lb
Exoterra 14,740 IU/lb
ZooMed ReptiCalcium 22,907 IU/kg
Mineral -indoor 2000ui per kg
Repashy calcium plus LoD 8,000 IU/lb or 20,000 IU/kg

For dosage, it is a fact that mineral indoor can be used every feeding with a UVI of 1.0, and its 10x lower than than others "lows". With a 12% you can easily crank it to over 3.0 UVI at 1 foot away from the bulb with certain setups.





Generally a vitamin/calcium/D3 supplement problem will start off as "misses" not the outright use of tongue. If it happened suddenly, odds are like others said, its an injury, and he may just use it like you use to eat popcorn, till it feels better.

 

[Weebo]

d3 twice a month combined with a 12%/10.0 T5HO will start to develop edema in a few months. So its possible that he has got some neck/chin swelling that is not to the point you can see it (unless you stare at the cham daily and can notice small changes).

Generally a vitamin/calcium/D3 supplement problem will start off as "misses" not the outright use of tongue. If it happened suddenly, odds are like others said, its an injury, and he may just use it like you use to eat popcorn, till it feels better.

it has not been sudden. I’ve slowly noticed him using his tongue less. It’s been for about 6 months where he would get extremely close to his food and barely use his tongue. Just recently he stopped using the tongue all together. I have a vet visit tomorrow

 

[nightanole]

it has not been sudden. I’ve slowly noticed him using his tongue less. It’s been for about 6 months where he would get extremely close to his food and barely use his tongue. Just recently he stopped using the tongue all together. I have a vet visit tomorrow

" Multivitamin once every 3 weeks "

Me wonders if its a Vit A underdose, that is a popular issue. You can search the forums for signs/vet tests/ and corrections to your gutload and vitamin selection.

 

[Weebo]

" Multivitamin once every 3 weeks "

Me wonders if its a Vit A underdose, that is a popular issue. You can search the forums for signs/vet tests/ and corrections to your gutload and vitamin selection.

I was under the impression multivitamin every 3 weeks was correct. Is this wrong?

 

[nightanole]

I was under the impression multivitamin every 3 weeks was correct. Is this wrong?

The general supplement sched is d3 twice a month, and vit twice a month.

But depending on the gut load and randomness of individuals, this could be too much or not enough, or simply they do not thrive on a certain brand.


Repashy calcium plus LoD can be a life saver(corrected bone issue) or a vet visit(edema) as an example.

 

[kinyonga]

What multivitamin do you use? With or without D3? Form of vitamin A in it? What do you feed the insects specifically?

 

[Weebo]

I use Herptivite for multivitamin. For gutload I use CricketCrack.

I have a vet visit tomorrow. I’m going to increase the multivitamin to twice a month and I ordered an Arcadia 6%.....maybe the 12% Was too strong

 

[kinyonga]

Photos of your chameleon please.
I would use some dandelion greens, kale, collards, endive, escarole, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, a little bit of papaya, mango, apples, pear, berries to what you feed the insects.

 

[Weebo]

Photos of your chameleon please.
I would use some dandelion greens, kale, collards, endive, escarole, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, a little bit of papaya, mango, apples, pear, berries to what you feed the insects.