I actually have 2 Questions:

1. I have a male veiled he is about 4 months old. Last night when I came home my girlfriend (Mackzbaby) told me that he was walking around with his tongue out. Short of breaking his enclosure down to get him out... i couldnt get a good look at him. He doesnt like to be handled at all and runs every time I open the door. He actually came out today and is sitting atop his plants and it looks to me that his tongue is swollen. I have seen him close his mouth like he is swollowing but he opens it again to let his tongue out. The fear I have is that a big cricket got mixed in with the 1/2 inch ones that I normaly feed him. I don't believe he is eating because there are still crickets in there which is rare for him. Any suggestions would be great.

2. I read that you can not truley tell if an egg is fertile untill 8 days has passed. Is this true?

Mack, the cham forum is one of the "slow" ones due to the small number of members that own such species.
As for acknowledging your post, what's the use of getting dozen answers "sorry, I have no idea, you should call your vet" ?

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Yes Mack, sorry no one has answered you, but of course during the summer the forums are a lot slower also because of the nice weather. And rbl is correct. I would have no idea about Chams either except to say it sounds like a vet visit is in order for yours. His problem sounds serious to me. And I don't have any idea about the egg issue either. Good luck. Lyn

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

Hi Mack,

I just saw your post and can say that it does warrant a vet trip. For a cham, a tongue injury is very bad! There are several things it could be and none that I would recommend trying to treat myself. Chameleons are quite fragile and can go down hill very quickly so my recommendation is to go to the vet very soon.

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0.1.0 Long hair gray calico cat (Opal)
0.0.3 Red-eared slider turtles (Mommy, Daddy, Robbie)
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Hey Mack,

I noticed on your signature list you have 1.1 chams, are they housed together? That could be a real problem. Do you think he is getting enough water?

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Val
www.reptilerescuerichmond.org

Chameleons can be prone to tongue injury, and as Hide said it is very bad news - get him to a specialist reptile vet asap or you could be facing tragedy.

How big is he? - at 4 months old I would be expecting him to eat larger crickets than size 1/2, but it is likely the larger cricket could have done some harm, although more likely that your cham hurt his tongue when catching food. He could also be dehydrated.

There is nothing you can do, you need a professional to help you with this, and quickly - if his tongue is swollen and injured he will not eat and will rapidly go down hill. Good luck and please keep us updated.

Also, as esbat asked, do you keep your chams together? - this is a bad idea except for breeding.

Re. the eggs - i'm not sure about cham eggs in particular, but in general sometimes you can tell an infertile egg immediately, other times it can take a few weeks for the egg to go bad. 8 days seems an odd number to choose, i don't think it's that specific.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

The Cham needs a vet ASAP!

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Regards,
Dominick
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"Do you watch too much television? Did you do so as a toddler? Evidence tonight that it could be the cause of learning disorders, like attention deficit and hyperact-Ooooh, a kitty!" - Keith Olbermann

The problem could also be due to a vitamin deficiency (vit A???).. do you supplement the cham's diet with calcium and multi-vitamins?

Either way, yes you need a vet - please let us know how you get on.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

I did run the baby veiled to the vet on Sunday, I didnt want to wait too long. Anyway, the vet told me that it is Metabolic Bone Disease, but neither one of us can figure out how or why he has Metabolic Bone Disease. I have him set up in a screened enclosure, uva/uvb light, basking light, temps. are in the right range, and Im supplementing his food everytime I feed him because he is growing so fast, the vet said that that was all the right things.
Of course I dont have my 2 veileds housed together, Ive done my research, plus my female is full grown, and he is just a baby.
I am making another vet run this weekend to my regular vet to get a 2nd opinion and more help. The vet I took him to didnt seem to reasurring to me.

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My kids:

1.0 box turtle
0.1 red foot tortoise
1.0 red eared slider
5.5 bearded dragons
2.8.6 leopard geckos
2.2 cats
1.0 husband
?.? on the way

I may be showing my ignorance not being a cham keeper but why would Metabolic Bone Disease cause the tongue to be swollen?
Metabolic Bone Disease affects the skeletal structure.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!