Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello. i have a female ambilobe panther that has what looks like a tongue infection. Has anyone here ever had this problem? And if so, what happened? how did you fix it? i'm sure the vet is in the future and antibiotics, but i'd like some advise or any information about this from someone who has knowledge of this problem.

Here's the info on the whole thing:
It's a 10 month old female, she was bought online by a friend of mine with 4 other females. when she got them in, 1 of them was from a seperate clutch than the others (supposedly). 3 of the chams were a good bit larger than the other 2, but they all seemed healthy. she kept 2 of them in one cage, 2 in another and the last one alone. one of the larger ones ended up with a swollen tongue so my friend took her to the vet. The vet said to deworm her. and she also made a comment about the inside of her mouth being yellow, but its one of those yellow-lipped blue barred ambilobes, so there wasn't anything wrong with that. the vet was obviously inexperienced and didn't know much about chameleons, which is typical of the few local vets where i live. so my friend deworms the cham (panacur) and it did nothing. the tongue got larger and she started acting neurologic- losing balance and not gripping well. Finally it got so bad she couldn't eat and my friend put her in the freezer. Then, a second cham gets this problem. One of the smaller ones this time, housed seperately from the first one, this time my friend didn't do anything like deworm or take her to the vet and the same outcome occurred. (freezer) So now a third one, another of the larger ones, started dropping weight and stopped growing really, then her tongue started to swell. So now I have her in hopes of finding out what this is and how to fix it. She's wild bred, captive hatched, so I dewormed her and have been giving her repta-aid and some electrolytes along with dusted crickets. She has UVB, basking bulb, gets natural sunlight every day now. (she had UVB only before.) she seems to have perked up a bit and isn't getting worse, but its only been a week. she's had the tongue swelling for 2 mos. She can still fling her tongue, but not far and her aim sucks. i hand feed her to help her out with the fast bugs like crickets. i got online today (i don't have easy internet access) and researched chameleon problems and found a site that talked about symptoms of different things. That's where I got the info and made my diagnoses of tongue infection. but the site didn't have any other info, it just said take it to the vet, but as i said before there arent any good vets locally for me. I did find one thats about an hour away im going to next week when i'm off work, but i would like some feedback so i have some idea of what to expect from the vet, or what to watch outh for. please help us! i have a sad lizard!

for future reference - please never put an animal into the freezer. It is an extremely cruel and painful way to die.

from www.anapsid.org/decap.html:

"Freezing is also often recommended as a method of euthanizing reptiles and other animals. In Manual of Reptiles, Lawton cites Cooper JE, Ewbank R, Platt C, and Warwick C. (1989, editors, Euthanasia of Amphibians and Reptiles, Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, Potters Bar), in regards to the painful formation of ice crystals in tissues and on skin, thus precluding hyperthermia as a method of euthanasia."

and another (from www.anapsid.org/iguana/hypothermia.html:
"Why Induced Hypothermia Is Inappropriate for Euthanasia
When reptiles are subjected to freezing temperatures, extracellular fluids begin to form ice crystals long before the reptile loses consciousness and pain perception. This extracellular freezing creates an osmotic imbalance, drawing water out of cells. The circulation is then impeded which inhibits prevents gas exchange, nutrient uptake, etc. Ice crystals begin to create small punctures in cell walls. For more information on euthanasia, see Stephen L. Barten DVM's article, Euthanasia of Reptiles. "

hope you and your friend figure out what is wrong, but if any more have to be euthanized, please have it done humanely.

Please do not take this post as a judgement, just an awareness.

lele
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Hi there,

Lele is correct in that you should find a more humane way of euthanizing a panther chameleon. Generally, the vet should charge by body weight, and for a female panther you can expect to pay about $25.

In regards to your problem, you mentioned the follow symptoms:

“The tongue got larger and she started acting neurological- losing balance and not gripping well. Finally it got so bad she couldn't eat and my friend put her in the freezer. Then, a second cham gets this problem.”

This is pretty common of Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD). The loss of balance is caused by weak limbs, and they will appear to be “dizzy”. They will behave very awkwardly and sway side to side. Often, you will see their hind legs grip their front shoulders. The swollen tongue is also a symptom of MBD. Their limbs might also appear to be bowed (no angle at the elbow). If you could post a photo, I’m sure the members of this board can confirm this for you.

If it is indeed MBD, you can correct it by:

1: Check that you are using the proper supplements. We recommend Repcal w/ D3 every other day (less for adults), in addition to Reptivite once every 2 weeks.

2: Make sure the chameleon can comfortably sit at least 6 inches under your UVB bulb. We recommend the Reptisun 5.0 by Zoomed. Most UVB tube bulbs are only effective up to 12 inches

3: Make an appointment with a vet that specializes in small animals or reptiles. You will need to supplement with a concentrated calcium supplement such as NeoCal. This is usually a 10 day treatment.

4: Contact the breeder and ask for any additional advice, and always stay in contact with the breeder to catch these things early.

Hope this post helps.

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Farrah & Vincent
Email: sales@screameleons.com
Phone: (571) 437-0642
Website: http://www.screameleons.com
Chameleon Info & Sale

Just another observation..if I read correctly...two were housed together? Panthers do not do well housed together but housed separately.

Again, as Lele said, not a judgment, just an observation.

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thank u all for your advice. So nobody has ever dealt with a tounge infection? These were my friend's chams, like i said, she can house her animals how she wants... i have no say in that, but i do agree with you. they are babies, that's the only reason they were still 2 to a cage. (very large cages too) thanks for the info on freezing, i was unaware of that and i will let my friend know. also she has had UVB and supplements her whole life, and the tongue thing is the main problem. i REALLY think its an infection, but it is odd that 3 of them got it.... i don't know. i can use any more advice.