Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last Thursday, my son's veiled chameleon severed his tongue beyond the point of repair. he can no longer use his tongue to catch food. I am giving him antibiotics for two weeks and he appears to drink misted water.
I have offered him crickets every day by hand and once he seemed interested and tried to catch one, then I placed the cricket in his mouth but he dropped it.
At this time, he won't open his mouth to accept the cricket, and I am getting worried he wont eat.
I need any suggestions on teaching him to take crickets by hand.
Thanks.

How much of the tongue (if any) is left? It is likely quite painful for him and may be uncomfortable too. Do you see him flexing his gular pouch or acting like the tongue/hyoid spike (the bone that the tongue rests on) isn't sitting comfortably in his throat? The tongue is like a tube that slips/folds over the hyoid bone a little like the way you slide a sleeve up your arm. If the end is missing, then the tube is open on the end and may retract uncomfortably onto the bone. When the tongue is amputated, it is sutured on the end and just enough to cover the bone without stretching it is left unamputated.

You said..."I am giving him antibiotics for two weeks and he appears to drink misted water" good on both counts! Since he is drinking, when his mouth is open try sticking a waxworm or a silkworm in between his teeth...I'm suggesting these because they are softer and easier to chew so it may cause the chameleon less pain to eat them. I have had several chameleons that got their tongues tangled and they had to be amputated...and they can't figure out at first that they can no longer shoot their tongues at a bug but have to walk up to it and eat it.

You said..."I need any suggestions on teaching him to take crickets by hand"...I always tried the method above first. If the chameleon took them this way, then I would try moving the insect away from him a little bit. It usually worked. If they get hungry enough they usually figure out that they have to walk up to the cricket.

If the tongue feels uncomfortable to the chameleon the chances are less likely that it will learn to eat on its own.

Hope you can get the chameleon to eat on its own! They can live a normal life span if they do learn it.

Thank you for the reply.
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.
I am a little concerned with the vets assessment since we went the the emergency clinic that night. I was not present during the exam and the vet was supposedly a reptile expert, however he told ne there was about half the tongue remaining. At this point, I don't believe there is any part of the tongue left.
I did recieve the antibiotics to treat infection, however I am becoming concerned if he won't take any food soon. This is the fifth day he has gone without food.
Does anybody know how long it might take for the hyoid bone to heal where the tongue was torn from?

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/

Hi I just joined the forum , this is such a sad story, just here to wish you well with your cham and I hope you get the help you need!

I just realized that I missed saying this in the last post...
You said.."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's what I meant by being uncomfortable with it. I still think that part of the tongue is likely to be folded up on the bone way down in the hole in the floor of his mouth...and until/unless its sutured at the end so that it covers the tongue again, he will remain uncomfortable with it. I'm not a vet...this is just coming from personal experiences that I have had with chameleons with damaged or amputated tongues.

How's he doing now?

I am not having any success feeding him yet, he is taking the antibiotics and seems to drink misted water, but feeding by hand is not working yet. I have sheduled an appointment tomorrow with the vet who has suggested using a feeding tube to keep him from becoming too weak.
I offer him crickets and superworms right up to his mouth but he doesn't seem to understand he needs to open his mouth and grab it. I was wondering if there is a technique for teaching him to eat the food?
When I do get a piece of food in his mouth it usually hangs out and then he drops it.
Should I try being more assertive and place the food in his mouth or pry his mouth open and place the food inside?
I think I will ask the vet to try and feed him first before we use the tube feeding and see if he has better luck.

Generally, in my experience with tongue loss, they will eat when you use this method unless they are uncomfortable with the tongue. (I still think you will find that part of it is curled up on the hyoid bone and he feels uncomfortable with it....just my opinion...). I don't know if being more forceful will work or not....I kind of have the feeling that it won't. You could try holding a thin slice of apple or sweet red pepper in his mouth....being longer than an insect it might work better.

Here's a "bug juice" recipe that you could try feeding him in a syringe (type with no needle). Being that he's a veiled, you could also mix it with some veggies cooked and pureed. If you try this you have to put a little on his tongue each time and let him swallow. If he doesn't seem to be swallowing, then it will need to be put further down into his throat....but its easy to end up with some in the lungs if you don't know what you are doing....so I don't want to recommend that you try this yourself. Perhaps the vet can try it and show you how. It will be like tube feeding anyway.
http://adcham.com/html/husbandry/bug-juice.html

I hope the vet can figure out the problem. Keep me posted.

Quick update....
We went to the vet last week and got a thorough exam. (the emergency room visit was a waste of time imo). the vet was great at handling him and was able to feed him some crickets we brought with us. It was necessary to use a stiff business card to gently pry his mouth open then place a cricket in his mouth on the business card and poke it in with a free finger then slide the card out.
He also showed me how to use a syringe tube to feed him directly if necessary. We have not had to do this however.
For now, we are feeding him every other day and misting every day. Hpopefully he will be more receptive to feeding and not resist so much being handled and hand fed.