My fire salamander is sick! Help

[Pentothal]

Hi all,
thanks for the excellent forum. One of my fire salamander looks really sick. Any idea about it? Is it a fungus? Please help me out..... I attach some pics taken yesterday.
Thanks in advance

 

[Creekratt]

Hi I new here to. Haven't Kept fires but would love to eventually. I'd like to know as well. The yellow looks " dirty" to me. Was it " cleaner" looking? How long have you had him? Could be fungus? I can do some research to see if I can help find answers? Is all his housing parameters in place, temps, too little, too much humidity? Whatcha feedin? Has he been around any other sallies that were wildcaught? Do you keep him terrestrial, as you might want to if your not? Read up on all the books you can about known diseases of European sallies, and all the gold mine of info here. Best wishes for your sallies, Ill see what I can find out myself.

 

[Fij]

Hi there,
I am afraid he is doomed. I too had this problem with adult fire salamanders in a tank set up and with many juveniles huddling together. I realised it was not contagious and could not find an answer on the internet but I am pretty sure this is what is happening. The urea / ammonia excreted by the salamander in his den has built up to high levels and seems to elicit a thickening of the skin, so much so that he can no longer shed. The blackening effect is actually old skin. If you rubbed an area gently you might rub off a patch and the yellow underneath becomes brighter. From the stage in the photo he will die in about 2 weeks. His skin will become darker and unable to shed he will take on a bloated appearance. Trying to manually rub off the skin or soaking in a water dish does not work. If you keep a salamander in a tank on capillary matting you will observe the white staining from the urea after about 3 days. I now keep my 13 adults in a mossy pen outside where urea can drain into the soil and be broken down by microbes. My 20 juveniles are kept 5 per plastic box and the capillary matting rinsed every 3 days. I have had no problems since. Try not to keep more than 2 adults in a tank and perhaps clay plant granules or small gravel for their den bedding which allows urea to drain away from the skin and can be rinsed clean every week. Even in a moss and soil tank microbes do not seem to be able to break down the urea sufficiently. I would think other salamander species suffer from this too. In short - it is an aquarium tank problem.

Hi all,
thanks for the excellent forum. One of my fire salamander looks really sick. Any idea about it? Is it a fungus? Please help me out..... I attach some pics taken yesterday.
Thanks in advance