Spotted Salamander has black patches

[Hsu Twins]

Dear Caudata Members,
My spotted salamander has developed these strange black patches on its head and body. He is weak, not eating no matter how hard I try, and has many small wrinkles in his skin. Are the wrinkles because he is getting thinner? And is there anything anybody knows concerning these black patches that are weakening him?

Many Thanks,
Hsu Twins

 

[Azhael]

Sounds like a skin infection. These kind of symptoms are common when humidity levels/ventilation are inadequate.
Improving both and keeping the animal cool is generally what´s adviced.

 

[Hsu Twins]

Thank you very much, but do you know anything about the wrinkles? Is that just because he is thinner than before?

 

[Azhael]

The wrinkles are the product of an abnormal skin. The infection makes it loose its normal moisture and turgency and it looks dry and inflexible. The wrinkling tends to be most accentuated in the darkened areas.

 

[Hsu Twins]

Would we need to quarantine him from the other animals in the cage? Is it highly contagious? We have a milk frog and a poison dart frog in a 29 gallon with him (we make it work). Is it best to quarantine him?
Thanks,
Hsu Twins

 

[Azhael]

Not just quarantine, those animals should not be kept together at all!
Skin infections are generally contagious, although depending on the particular patogen, it may be too specific to affect the frogs.
Anyway, poison dart frogs and milk frogs are tropical species that require conditions radically different from those of the poor salamander. In all likelihood the infection has been caused by inadequate humidity and high temps.
Please separate the salamander ASAP. Furthermore, the milk frog and the dartfrog are not suitable tank mates either...

We don´t have an A.maculatum caresheet, but their care is basically the same as A.tigrinum, so make sure to read this:
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Tiger salamander

 

[nwmnnaturalist]

I agree with the warning. If they are not separated and placed in their own habitats soon, there will likely be a worse incident. The fact nothing has happened so far is quite amazing. Just because nothing seems to have gone wrong yet does not mean disaster is imminent!

It would be nice to have a habitat with multiple species to simulate a real ecosystem, but it's extremely rare for that to occur in captivity. We just cannot provide enough of a healthy habitat to replicate that balance.

 

[Hsu Twins]

We quarantined the salamander, and I understand what you guys said, but the paludarium we have works perfectly for the two frogs, but maybe isn't ideal for the salamander. We did our research, and we have the temperature and humidity levels at the meeting point for the frogs and salamander, but with the recent burst of heat, no matter how hard we try we can't manage to keep the heat below 77-80! This is probably the cause of the salamander's problems, but we have been trying the best we can. Thanks for your input!

Hsu Twins

 

[Azhael]

It´s not that it isn´t ideal, it´s that it is unacceptable. There is no way you could possibly provide adequate care for a spotted salamander and a dartfrog in the same tank. It´s simply impossible. The salamander will do best at temps lower than 20ºC, ideally with a significant drop during the winter (even down to 3-4ºC). The lowest acceptable temps for the frog are pretty much the maximum tolerable for the salamander, but prolonged exposure to such temps, without a nighttime drop will eventually cause serious trouble, as has been the case.
If you can´t manage to lower the temps for the salamander you might have to consider fridging it. Heat and salamanders don´t mix well..it destroys their inmune system.