Worried about panthers tongue

[Jwillchamel]

I have a female chameleon that will only stick her tongue out about 1/2in i just got her she does it for crickets and phenox worms im wondering if something is wrong i have had her for about 3days she came from petco i felt bad for her and got her

 

[Nursemaia]

Could be an injury or a sign of a calcium deficiency. I don't see a uvb bulb on your setup. That's a must or she will develop MBD. She also needs a laybin at all times. What are you giving her as suppliments

 

[Nursemaia]

I also put in more climbing branches

 

[Jwillchamel]

I have a linear uv bulb on there its hard to see but its there

Could be an injury or a sign of a calcium deficiency. I don't see a uvb bulb on your setup. That's a must or she will develop MBD. She also needs a laybin at all times. What are you giving her as suppliments

 

[Jwillchamel]

I gutload plus i lightly put calcium no d3 or phosph everyday plus every 2 weeks will be multi vit and calcium with d3. This is a new enclosure only been set up 4 or 5 days im adding to it i just bought her a few days ago. I have raised many chameleons successfully so not my first chameleon just my first from a petstore i usually buy from breeders

 

[Jwillchamel]

I dont see chameleons acctually chase down food most of the time it was a surprise to me

 

[Nursemaia]

Ok that's good to hear. There's so many threads where people have no clue what they're doing its nice to see someone who has experience. Since she came from a petstore her care may not have been the best. I know the beginning of a calcium deficiency can manifest itself in problems with shooting for prey but that's usually when they shoot and miss. Since she only gets it out a little bit I'm thinking it's an injury. I'd give her a few days to let her tongue rest and heal.

 

[Jwillchamel]

Ok that's good to hear. There's so many threads where people have no clue what they're doing its nice to see someone who has experience. Since she came from a petstore her care may not have been the best. I know the beginning of a calcium deficiency can manifest itself in problems with shooting for prey but that's usually when they shoot and miss. Since she only gets it out a little bit I'm thinking it's an injury. I'd give her a few days to let her tongue rest and heal.

Thanks for the info and alo i do agree some of these threads make me shake my head also. It could be poor previous care because to tell you the truth me and my wife went to petco 3days in a row to visit her then and after talking to the manger over and over we decided if we left her there she would never survive in there care so we caved and bought her i couldnt stand to see her in a plastic tank with wrong lights and people pecking on the tank scaring her well i guess im a softy but i am hoping she will love her forever home

 

[Nursemaia]

I try to avoid the live animals when I go into the pet stores here. My petco doesn't carry panthers only veileds. I went in one time and there was fungus growing in the substrate. I pointed it out and told them that it was way too humid in there. They did immediately clean it but I think it was only to shut me up, not because they cared.

 

[Jwillchamel]

I think petco and petsmart both are the same way i went to petsmart the other day and they had 2 adult male veilds in one tank i asked the manager if she was running a chameleon fight right so she reluctantly removed them from each other and put in separate tanks with of all things water bowls ahhhh that drives me insane i hate water bowls

I try to avoid the live animals when I go into the pet stores here. My petco doesn't carry panthers only veileds. I went in one time and there was fungus growing in the substrate. I pointed it out and told them that it was way too humid in there. They did immediately clean it but I think it was only to shut me up, not because they cared.

 

[Peachypink]

I think petco and petsmart both are the same way i went to petsmart the other day and they had 2 adult male veilds in one tank i asked the manager if she was running a chameleon fight right so she reluctantly removed them from each other and put in separate tanks with of all things water bowls ahhhh that drives me insane i hate water bowls

This is how I ended up with my veiled. I try an avoid the cham cages, well "glass cubes", when I have to go in there. I try not to at all but....
I didn't need another cham but he was almost a year old and had MBD and a fracture. When I pointed it out and started explaining a few things to the manager she was like.."Sounds like you know what you are doing, would you want to take him after we take him to the vet? It would be nice knowing that he's somewhere where he will get the right care"....ugh, I'm such sucker! That was the beginning of the circus act that ultimately ended in me taking him home. Thankfully I had extra stuff already: cage, lights, feeders, the works. So, yup, he's mine. Knowing what I went through the first few weeks I had him I know without a doubt that if anyone who didn't have cham knowledge or even a someone who had a little experience he would not have made it. He's doing great now.

Good luck with your girl. Hopefully it is just a calcium deficiency and after supplementing correctly with the correct lights she will start to show improvement. I know you know this, but if it were me, I would take her to a good vet and to give her a good look over and make sure it's not something more serious and that there isn't something else that might need treatment coming from that store.