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please help our chameleons tongue is very swollen

22 13:31:38

Question
picture of swollen cam tongue
picture of swollen cam  
QUESTION: about 2 days ago our chameleons tongue looked swollen and was hanging out of his mouth a little bit, i didnt think anything of it i thought he was doing it on purpose. His tongue has not gotten any better and the swelling hasnt gone down any. He hasn't eaten any crickets and when he tries to extend his tongue it falls and he has trouble bringing it back into his mouth. There arent any vets around us and we relly need to know what to do to cure it please help we are really worried.


here is a picture of another cham i found on the internet that has the same tongue issues ours is having.

ANSWER: Hello Karesse,

Based on this information, he is most likely suffering from metabolic bone disease & other nutritional deficiencies.  How old is he?
What type & brand of UVB light are you using, a fluorescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light?  How close is the light to him?
What are the temperatures in his tank, & what type of thermometer do you use?  A stick on type, a digital probe or a temp gun?  Do you have a water drip system for him?
What foods do you feed him?  How often do you give him calcium, & vitamins?
Does he have trouble climbing as well?  How often does he go to the bathroom?
I would recommend getting some liquid calcium to boost his levels if you are not using any calcium supplementation right now.  
The best UVB tube light here in the US is the Reptisun 10 tube bulb.  You can get it for a good price at www.petmountain.com
Do not get any compact/coil lights, or any Reptiglo 10 products, just the Reptisun 10 tube bulb.

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: we are not sure how old that he is we got him about 3 months ago from the petsupplies plus, when we bought him they told us we didn't need to take him to vet for a checkup so we didn't. this is the first time we have ever had a chameleon and we didn't exactly research how to take care of them they just told us to feed water and mist. We didn't get a thermometer we just have a humidity detector and its usually always around 70, it is a stick on one that sticks to the side of his aquarium. We don't have a water drip system just a water bowl and we only feed him crickets. The pet store told us to buy calcuim plus food for crickets to eat and then the cham will eat the crickets. i don't think he goes to the bathroom very often, we just cleaned his cage and there was not a lot of feces at all. right now we are using 60w sun glo exo terra bulb for the day and for the night light we are using 50w night glo by exo terra. he climbs when i see him climbing he doesn't move very much but recently he has been on the branch that sits lower in the aquarium away from the light.


i feel really really bad about whats happening to our reptile i feel sick to my stomache, we weren't aware of all the needs that the cham needs. what do we do to make him better? what kind of vitamin sprays do we buy? and what kind of other calcuim do we buy instead of the balls that the cricekts eat? do we get a water dripping system? and are the bulbs good enough or do we need to get something different? do we need a thermometer and if so what kind do we need to get?

thank you,
Karesse

ANSWER: Hello Karesse,

Well, let's see what we can do to get him on the right track for you.
You will need to get a digital probe or a temp gun to more accurately measure his temperatures.  He needs a bit warmer area for his basking spot, around 85 but NO higher than 90.  The humidity needs to stay relatively stable at around 60-70% with a good drip system of some type.  
A large water bowl at the bottom of the tank is a good idea.  You can use eco earth or coconut husk type of bedding to help hold in humidity but do not make the entire bottom all wet.  Just isolate the water into a large water bowl.  Otherwise you run the risk of too much bacteria if you make a huge pool on the whole bottom of the tank.  
They don't drink from standing water, it has to be moving.  So, you can use a hamster dropper & modify it to where it slowly drips into a water bowl/pool so it is moving.  You can also use a water pump that will move the water around so he will recognize it.
He is very calcium deficient too, so you will need to get a calcium powder or some liquid calcium for him.  Are you located in the US or other country?  
The Sun Glo is not a UVB light, but just a basking light.  So you will need to get a UVB light.  If you are in the US, the Reptisun 10 tube bulb is the best.  You can get that from here:
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-rept

If you are in the UK, try getting the Arcadia D3 12% tube bulb.  You can get that one from here:
http://www.livefoods.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=50&products_id=984

Is he able to eat or chew by himself very well?  The crickets need to be gutloaded with a dry cricket mix or gutload.  Or you can buy chicken laying mash which is an excellent feed for them.

Let me know how he is doing.

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: he seems to be doing ok today his tongue hasn't gone down any but it looks a bit pinker today, he ate 2 crickets today but i didn't get to see him eat them so im not sure if he was chewing well or not. we usually feed him carrots and lettuce with tweezers but he didnt seem to want any when i attempted to feed him. we have noticed that he has been drinking a lot of water since we got the hampster dripper. he has also seemed to like water being dripped on to him he opens his mouth and lets the water drip on him maybe that soothes him? and we ordered some liquid calcium, powder calcim and the bulb online yesterday so hopefully we get those soon. right now we are using coconut bark reptile substrate is that ok for him or should we switch to a different bedding? do we order a seperate light for the night time as well or do we keep that one on continuously? where would we purchase chicken laying mash? we do live in the us and we were wondering how long it will take for his tongue swelling  to go down and be healthy again?

we really appreciate all of your help and all of our questions you have been answering for us, thank you so much :)

Karesse

Answer
Hello Karesse,

That is good his tongue is looking a bit more pink right now.  The swelling wont go down until his condition improves a little bit more.  
Which liquid calcium did you order?  Remember to only use the liquid calcium by itself.  Using the liquid & the powder would be too much for him so just use the liquid initially to get his levels up.  Do you know the strength of the calcium?  I need to dose him for the calcium so he will get the proper amount.  
The water is extremely important.  Dehydration is a huge contributing factor to ill health in chameleons.  So you do need to try & figure out a drip system in his tank so he can drink on his own also.  
Well, the coconut bark should be ok, as long as you are able to keep the humidity levels to at least 60% on a consistent basis.  Are you using a large water bowl that he can completely submerge himself in as well?
Great so you ordered the Reptisun 10 tube bulb then?  Hopefully you will get that soon.  Unless your house gets cooler than 75 or so, you wont need any nighttime heating right now.  They can tolerate temperatures in the 70's, not a problem, overnight.  However, you will want to get a ceramic heat emitter for the winter because they will die if they get too cold.  You wont want to leave the light on all night because that will disturb his sleeping patterns.  Make sure & place the tube UVB light directly beside the basking light on one end so he can get heat & UVB at the same time.  
Most local feed stores carry chicken laying mash.  Make sure you get the crumbles not the scratch.  The crumbles are just small tiny crushed up pieces of brown dry feed, whereas the scratch is a mix of corn kernals, seeds, etc which you don't want.  It is pretty cheap, but a good gutload for insects.  

Let me know how he is doing.
Tracie