How do you open a salamander's mouth to hand feed?

[eukarie]

Hello again,

I have the tiger salamander ("Sam") who, last time I posted, had his "eyes swollen shut, not eating". He is STILL not eating, which is now the major problem, of course. He's extremely thin and weak. I want to hand feed him but so far have to wait for him to open his mouth, which is not predictable. Any advice on how to get a salamander to open his mouth, or how to gently open it myself?

Here is the update since I last posted: I took Sam to an exotic pet vet. She found that his eyes were full of substrate (coconut fiber) and one eye was scratched and infected. She cleaned his eyes out and gave me antibiotic eye drops to use twice a day. Of course, since his eyes have been swollen Sam hasn't been able to see and therefore hasn't eaten.... in months. This could also account for the fact that his eyes are sunken - I have read that sunken eyes can occur from severe malnutrition because the fat pads behind the eyes lose their moisture. The vet suggested I hand feed him small earthworms; I actually got a few small worms into his mouth when he "yawned" but he would basically spit them out. So I found Fluker's Repta-Aid online (also recommended by a staff person at Petco) and want to try hand-feeding him the recommended dose with the syringe. However, I need to be able to get the syringe into his mouth - that's what I need help with.

Other than his eyes and the fact that he's starving, Sam seems good - his color and texture are good (except for sagging/wrinkled skin); he moves around the tank and even just got himself into and out of his water dish okay. The most disturbing thing happened the other day when I tried to feed him the worm: he seemed to start salivating at the sight/movement &/or smell (?) of the worm - first clear viscous liquid bubbled out of his mouth, but then he also seemed to "throw up" a little blood. That made me worry that he has some organ failure. The vet said this could be a possibility as he is quite old - about nine years.

I will be the first to admit that his current condition is probably more a result of poor care-taking than old age, though (and a caution to those of you with tigers) - the need to maintain appropriate humidity, not keep crickets in the cage, clean the water and substrate frequently are all things I've learned or been reminded of since scrambling around online to try to diagnose his illness and heal him.

Anyway, wish me luck. (This has all been somewhat traumatizing.)

Thanks for any advice you can provide. I'm attaching a picture of Sam from today.

 

[Jennewt]

Sorry about Sam If he's spitting out worms, then I suspect he'll spit out what you force feed him too. When I was doing forcefeeding, I used a thin piece of plastic that was slightly curved (it was one of those plastic tags that you get when you buy a potted plant, with the plant name and care written on it). I have heard of other people using the edge of a laminated card, or using the tip of a syringe (minus the needle, of course).

Good luck!

 

[Lasher]

You could try looking for reptile husbandry supplies, I bought a large syringe with a plastic tab designed specificaly for this purpose. I dont have it anymore and I dont recall the brand name but googling 'reptile feeding tools' might find it. I'll go check all my old links and drop you a pm if I can find it.

I've also found that some small herps will open their mouths if you apply a little pressure to the back of the lower jaw bone(right at the neck where it meets soft tissue). If you can somehow hold it and gently(very gently!) apply pressure with thumb and forefinger he might open his mouth. Its a trick a vet showed me, just be carefull if you try it.

 

[lims]

sad story, hope Sam gets better, well named by the way,,
I used to have a leapard geko that was never supposed to survive if you ask me, but I kept him alive a year or so, injecting mashed meal worms into his mouth and using both techniques mentioned above, it was a real commitment and hard work, convincing my mother that herps were not meant to be kept in captivity, fullstop.
I'm not at all suggesting you give up, but sometimes the critters just don't have the will to live anymore. On the flip side, I've had 2 C. orientalis which were in terrible states, and recovered fully.

 

[eukarie]

Excellent! I just attached a small piece of plastic that I cut from a fruit container (made a curved end) to the end of the syringe with a piece of bandaid ... I gently pushed that into his mouth, which prompted him to open his mouth wider, and then I could push some of the soft food in - just a tiny bit, but it's a start! Thanks all!!! I'll keep you posted.