I agree with Carlton - what you describe is in no way "Fine"

i have dexter out right now. he is acting totally fine except he cannot extend his tongue further than 1 cm. i held out a super worm very far and he would not try to shoot at it....he would keep trying to get closer and closer (which is normal for chameleons but usually they will shoot at it once "in range" even if they can shoot further). the other odd thing is that once he bites down on the super worm...instead of devouring it and chomping like mad like he usually does (or did a while ago), he cannot seem to bite down to bite the worm in half. the worm will just sit there in this mouth hanging out of both sides and he will try to swallow or chew or something but it just doesn't happen. he still has the worm in his mouth after 10 minutes. it seems like this tongue/throat is swollen because he can't really open his mouth to chew. but i believe he is eating

i think he must have had something happen where he is swollen. i felt his neck but it feels normal.

You said: "i think he has probably not had function of his tongue for a few weeks or so because i've seen him at the bottom of the cage quite a while, probably trying to get crickets. we do not bowl feed, we usually throw in 2 dozen crickets or so each week. "

Why have you waited so long to see a vet? If you just throw crickets in each week, it seems likely to me you have been neglecting your chameleons diet and it is probably suffering a painful horrible slow death due to nutritional deficiencies.
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Sandra
BC Canada

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