Help! Salamander Stand-Off

[CritterLover]

i really need some help! my husband found a tiger sal about 4 days ago at work, he brought it home and we tried to set up a habitat and all but he won't eat. Tonight we force fed him a baby cricket and the sal ate it but refuses to eat anything else ( nightcrawlers, mill worms, waxworms ) what do we do?

Also i have noticed that one foot has a red and light pink looking blotch on the foot? Is this a fungus?? what can we do to help this lil' guy as he is very skiny and weak.

Thank you for any help you can give i am desperate here!!!!

 

[Jan]

The symptoms you describe unfortunately do not bode well for a good prognosis: emaciated, lethargic, refusing to eat and red spot on the leg. The red lesion could be induced by any number of pathogens including bacteria, fungus, virus, etc....and may well be a systemic infection. There is no way to know other than by evaluation and culture. If you have the ability, a visit to a herp vet would be recommended. There are treatments that might help that could be prescribed.

If that is not possible, I might suggest the following: set up a hospital tank with moistened paper toweling as substrate and crumpled moistened paper toweling as hides. Change when soiled or every 2 days. He is maximally stressed and weak. Keep the enclosure in a cool dark area; you want as little outside stress as possible. If he will eat crickets don't worry at this point about other foods - let him eat crickets. Force feeding is tricky..you do not want to break his jaw. If the red spot turns into an ulceration/open sore, you can try cleaning it with normal saline (Ocean nasal spray) on a Q-Tip or make your own solution, then apply a small amount of Neosporin ointment plain (without pramoxine or benzocaine), twice a day after cleaning. This is a non-specific, 'catch-all treatment'. I wouldn't use this unless the skin is broken/sloughing/ulcerated.

Best of luck.

 

[CritterLover]

thank you so much i have been cleaning out his cage more often and changing his water every few hours to make sure that he has a healthy enviroment but i will follow your advice and hope for the best!