Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I ordered some pygmy chameleons online the other day. Well they just arrived and to my surprise one of the chameleons had his tongue torn off. I'm guessing that his tongue at some point became hyperextended due to stress and it was torn off. I checked the other chameleons and they all seem fine. Will his tongue grow back or is he pretty much done for? he seems lively. I would really hate to loose it. Can I hand feed it for life or what can i do at this point? Please help.

You said..."Will his tongue grow back or is he pretty much done for?"...no, the tongue will not grow back. He could survive this and learn to eat on his own just as other lizards eat by approaching the insects and taking them into their mouths. My concern is whether or not he might develop an infection.

You said..."Can I hand feed it for life or what can i do at this point?"...it will likely need a bit of help with feeding until it figures out that it can't use its tongue any more. If you hold the bug close to it at first so it basically only has to open its mouth and you'll stick it in...then gradually make it reach forward to get it...it should get the idea.

Good luck with it!

(Don't know if you know brevs can play dead so well that you will be sure that it is...so if it looks dead at some point don't dispose of it until you are sure.)

Try feeding tiny silkworms to the injured one. They really don't move and despite other's failure feeding them, I have always had great success feeding pygmy chameleons silkworms.

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WILL HAYWARD,
CANADIAN CHAMELEONS

What gave you the impression the tongue is missing? Are you certain that it's missing? Is it a WC pygmy? If it truly is missing its tongue it may learn to feed without it but I personally don’t give it much of a chance especially if it’s wild caught and an adult.

-roo