Posted by:
kinyonga
at Mon Aug 7 17:02:24 2006 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by kinyonga ]
You said..."From your description, I'm afraid he has lost his entire tongue. He open his mouth from time to time and extend what appears to be the hyoid bone, which looks like a small stiff red appendage about and inch in length"...that sounds like its the hyoid bone you are seeing. If there is any tongue left it would likely have curled up onto the part of the hyoid bone that you can't see down the hole in the floor of the mouth...so the vet could be right, but then I don't understand/know why he wouldn't have sutured it so that it covered the hyoid bone. I don't know if there is any healing that will happen to the bone or not. (I'm not a vet, what I tell you is from my own experience or what I have read or heard from others including vets and some of the top chameleon people.) Here's a site that talks about tongue loss and shows a picture of the tip of the hyoid bone...
http://adcham.com/html/veterinary/vet-tongue-problems-kramer.html
You said..."I am becoming concerned if he won't take any food soon. This is the fifth day he has gone without food"...five days without food is not likely a problem as long as he's been drinking. Did you try to feed him while he's drinking like I suggested? If this didn't work, here's a "bug juice" recipe that he might take...
http://adcham.com/html/husbandry/bug-juice.html
Fingers crossed that he will be okay and learn to eat without the use of his tongue.
Here are some sites that you might like to read to learn more about chameleons. Maybe you've seen some of them already?
http://adcham.com/
http://www.chameleonnews.com/
http://www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/
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RE: tips on hand feeding (I have no cho - kinyonga, Mon Aug 7 17:02:24 2006