pac man frog tongue out of mouth

Question
My son's pacman frog's tongue is stuck out of his mouth. No emergency clinics can help.  Any suggestions.  He pushed it back in once and it came back out.

Answer
Hi Lorri,

It sounds like the retractor muscles may have sustained an injury. If there is no visible blood or wound then it does not sound like the tongue was torn away from its connecting area within the mouth.
Try to also check the condition of his jaw by running a finger along to make sure the bone is solid all along. They can sometimes hit their jaws against the glass with alot of force due to their particular hunting style. They can hit it with enough impact to cause a fracture, particularly if there have been previous calcium deficiencies in the diet. If he cannot close his jaw then that could also be causing his tongue to remain visible.

I hope you are able to find someone who can take a look at it but in the meantime you should try to keep the tongue tissue moist which will keep it viable. Simply dabbing on some cooking oil should help. He will be more prone to evaporation with the open mouth and exposed tissue so make sure he is getting into his water dish. With luck, it is just a soft tissue injury that needs a few days of inactivity (no feeding) to heal and once the inflammation is down he will be able to retract the tongue normally. Good luck.