Tiger Salamanders unknown wounds

[kwecpenner]

Hello,
We have some Tiger Salamanders at work and today we noticed some very bad wounds. We have two and they have never fought each other and we raised them from larva they have a tank with eco soil that is misted and are able to get into distilled water. We are very careful about cross contamination as we sterilize everything and rinse everything extremely well.
One had a chunk missing from his tail and two open wounds. The other had a huge open wound and a big chunk from his tail, and also he was a very big open wound where his tail and legs met which was infected and we had to put him down.
My question is when I cleaned there cage I noticed that there was about 4-5 crickets in the cage. I had noticed this the week before I cleaned the cage and always tried to remove the ones I saw. We have several people who feed them so I do not always see how it is done. We normally feed them by hand and never leave food in house with them.
Would those crickets have bitten those salamanders which lead to infection?
Otherwise we are afraid it could be some other bacterial infection. Thank you.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Could you add a photo of the wounds please? I believe crickets do bite and this may be the cause.

 

[RPM]

Are they fed anything other than crickets?

 

[kwecpenner]

This is it's tail. I didn't get photographs of the other salamander.

 

[kwecpenner]

Crickets and worms, that is it. They are feeder crickets that we give nutrients so all the animals that we feed them too get nutrients too. We also feed night crawlers. Our other animals get them too and the salamanders are the only ones that have this "issue" which is why we are thinking a bite.

 

[velasco13000]

It might be the crickets that dont get eaten that are nibbling at them.

 

[Kaysie]

That looks like a cricket wound.

 

[kwecpenner]

He is not healing. We have him baths in baytril and have used neosporin on the open wounds. Thought they were healing but now he was bleeding again and has some lumps under the skin by the wounds. No crickets are left in cages now. Could the eco soil be causing an infection, should we go to a hospital setting with water and a paper towel? Could the crickets have laid eggs in the open wounds?

 

[Jan]

Whether this wound was a by-product of a cricket bite is hard to say. But in that you have had more than one animal with this condition it would lead me to believe you have something serious in terms of infection going on.

At this point, the animal should be moved to a hospital set-up as described here: Caudata Culture Articles - Tiger Salamander 101. Move the enclosure to an area that is dark, cool and undisturbed. Change the substrate every couple of days or when soiled.

I would also decontaminate the current enclosure and assure that husbandry is proper as described in the linked care sheet. You mentioned use of distilled water. Distilled water should not be used but rather either spring water or dechlorinated tap water - Caudata Culture Articles - Bottled Water for Amphibians.

 

[kwecpenner]

Tiger Salamander wounds need help please!

We are in need of help. We have a tiger salamander which has wounds on his tail. He was with another salamander and in the 5 years we have had them they never fought cause they were born together. Several months ago we noticed weird wounds in which were infected and we had to put down one of the salamanders. The other one still has wounds in which we have tried neosporin, pure honey, antibiotics, and sterile baths. We first thought they were cricket bites. They healed and they they get worse again. We have even amputated part of his tail to stop the spread. We notice that whatever it is it keeps eating away at the tail. He continues to have an appetite. We have contacts our local zoo vets and several zoos and any on else that we could think of to help. Does anyone have a clue? We are concerned that it may be a flesh eating virus. The first picture is the most current and the second was the beginning wound before amputation.

 

[kwecpenner]

We have "hospitalized" him treated him and he seemed to get better but now its back. We disinfected everything. Hard core disinfect. We have even amputated a part of his tail and after it looked healed it has now came back. Could the crickets have had a weird infectious disease? We do not leave the crickets in the cages. I have posted another thread too with updated photos.

 

[Jan]

Have you had the infected area cultured? There is no way to know what is going on without diagnostic tests. Over the past 7 months you have tried a few antibiotics and other common treatment measures without positive response. My thoughts:

1. It could be bacterial and you haven't landed on the correct antibiotic yet for the infecting organism(s).
2. There could be an underlying metabolic condition that is expressing itself and not allowing healing or perpetuating the infection.
3. It may not be bacterial but another pathogen not responsive to antibacterials. If it is viral, treatment options are slim to none. If mixed infection (bacterial with fungus), there may be more treatment options.

Are your zoo vets available or willing to test?