Abscess on my fire salamander PLEASE HELP

[luke]

I have 2 fire salamanders, which I have had for about 5 months. Unfortunately one of them has developed an abscess on his chin and has become less active and stressed. I read that lowering the temperature can help with some types of salamanders, has anyone tried this or got any other ideas.}

 

[heather]

very sorry to hear about the problem Luke, sadly i have no expirence with fire salmanders...hopefully you will come across somebody who does.

Good luck

 

[edward]

Hi Luke,
In general the lowering of the temperature has been suggested as a cure in some cases of Aeromonas infection based on behaviors observed in experimentally infected amphibians. This has been only observed for this specific infection as far as I know as it lowers the temperature below the best growth rate for that bacteria. However many of the other pathnogenic bacteria that infect amphibians grow very well down to 5 C. In general the lower the temperature the less effective the immune system of the amphibian.

Depending on the cause of the lesion there are a number of excellant treatments available. At work we use Silvadine cream, which you will need a prescription from vet to buy. Some people use over the counter antibiotic medications but if you choose this route make sure you do not purchase any containing benzocaine as this anaelgesic is a good euthanasia agent for salamanders.

Ed