Illness/Sickness: My Salamander seems sick

[Nelicquele]

I have three tiger salamanders and I've had them for four years. Today I opened the tank to feed them their worms. Two of them grabbed their worms and began to devour them but I noticed the third one just laying there. I noticed his breathing was not normal and he seems to have black spots all over his body. I tried to temp him to eat because normally he's one of the bigger eaters but he just turned away and crawled into one of thier tunnels under the water dish. I'm worried, I love my salamanders so much I cant bear the thought of losing one. Whats wrong with him?

 

[Lusiwarrior]

Hi Nelicquele,
as to the blackspot I can not say anything. However as to its rejection of food I can say that it is sometimes normal for all the newts and salamanders. The cause may be due to several factors, since the temperature of the hygiene facilities, etc.

cheers

 

[Kaysie]

I think black spots are often a sign of shedding. There was a thread about this recently; I'll see if I can dig it up.

Here's a few links I hope will help: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...67579-tiny-black-spots-tiger-salamanders.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...amander-help/58646-help-black-spots-what.html

This last one is the one I was specifically looking for.

 

[Nelicquele]

Hey thanks I appreciate yall. I'll just keep an eye on him until his appetite comes back and then Ill feed him a big fat worm.

 

[Jan]

I would really recommend that if you have the means and access, to take the animal to a vet that has familiarity with amphibians. This well could be an infection that requires treatment (see the threads that Kaysie posted). I would also suggest that you separate him from the others and place him into a hospital/quarantine environment. If it is an infection, it may or not be contagious.

There is some anecdotal evidence or perhaps just coincidence, but black spots have occured on tigers kept in an overly wet environment. Assure your set-up and substrate are appropriate.

 

[beefsteak]

Try soaking it in acidophilus. 8 oz of water, mixed well with one cap for 10 min. I dont know why but this has worked really well for me.