Possibly sick salamander?

[amnorvend]

So my tiger salamander's been acting kinda listless lately. He doesn't really seem as concerned about hiding under things like he used to be and doesn't seem to even react at all when I come to his box.

I did just clean and change out his cage this weekend. Before he had a setup where one end was essentially dirt and the other end was water (we have him in a big plastic container). This was a big pain to clean, so I put some coconut fiber down and put a bowl of water in the cage so that it would be easier to change out.

Could this have done something that made him sick or stressed?

 

[Kaysie]

What temperature are you keeping the tank? How often do you feed? What do you feed?

 

[amnorvend]

What temperature are you keeping the tank? How often do you feed? What do you feed?

I've been feeding him an earthworm about 3 times a week. And we keep the tank at room temperature. Come to think of it, we did turn the A/C down some to save on energy costs.

Someone told me that they use dirt to help regulate their body temperature. I don't recall him acting this way when our air conditioner broke for a few days during his old setup where he had some dirt to bury himself in. Do you think that putting some dirt back in could help?

 

[Kaysie]

My setup consists of about 4-5 inches of dirt with a little coco fiber mixed in (this helps retain moisture, and give a little more structure to the soil). You might want to give him some in case he wants to burrow.

 

[amnorvend]

My setup consists of about 4-5 inches of dirt with a little coco fiber mixed in (this helps retain moisture, and give a little more structure to the soil). You might want to give him some in case he wants to burrow.

I'll try that out and let you know how it goes. Hopefully it's just the stress of a big environment change and the heat and not some kind of illness (not that the stress wouldn't be a big deal). He's eating well, so that's good.

Also, I did completely change his water out. I've heard some sources say that it's really a bad idea to do that, but I've also been told it's a good idea to get it really clean. Could that have also had something to do with it?

 

[oregon newt]

The reason it would be bad to do that would be because it could send it into a cycle, but unless you're changing the water everyday it would be fine because the waste wouldn't be building up. The only time you shouldn't do a 100% water change is when you usually don't change the water every day. Like in an aquatic set-up.

 

[amnorvend]

The reason it would be bad to do that would be because it could send it into a cycle, but unless you're changing the water everyday it would be fine because the waste wouldn't be building up. The only time you shouldn't do a 100% water change is when you usually don't change the water every day. Like in an aquatic set-up.

Yeah. I wasn't changing the water every day.

 

[Kaysie]

In a water dish, it's best to change the water daily.

 

[amnorvend]

My salamander seems to be doing fine now. I put some dirt and moss in his box and he seems to like it. I guess it was just the stress of not having anything to burrow under that was making him act strange.

 

[Kaysie]

That's probably the case. Glad to hear it's doing better.