Weird spots, not eating. too cold?

[sam yeskis]

Blue spotted salamander

Hi everyone, I'm new here and joined because I need help. My boyfriend brought home a blue spotted salamander a few days ago , I live in northern Wisconsin and it's still fairly cold out. We put him in a tank with some moss substrate , gravel, two large rocks , some antlers (my boyfriend's idea) and about an inch or two of water. He was sluggish yesterday so I put another worm in there but then I saw he wasn't eating the others I had already put in there. So I added a lamp for some heat because the room we have him in is fairly cold. I checked on him this morning but he was still pretty sluggish and still hasn't eaten anything. We are planning to release him when the weather stays warm, but how can I keep him happy until then? I have worms, and one feisty centipied.

 

[sam yeskis]

Okay so yesterday I checked on my salamander (blue spotted, northern Wisconsin) and he's too sluggish, hasn't eaten any of his worms and has weird white lumps on him. They really aren't that big, and there are maybe four of them on his side and two on his tail. It was cold in the room he is in, so I added a lamp but this morning he was still really still.

 

[michael]

They like it cold. The lamp is going in the wrong direction.

 

[sam yeskis]

Okay, thank you. But why is he sluggish? He hardly moves at all. I went in to pick him up and he just sat there in my hand, didn't even struggle when I picked him up. But two days ago he would scurry away from me even looking at him too close.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Could you add some photo's of him please so we can see?

 

[sam yeskis]

I circled the spots

 

[tcbemis]

My guess would be that he's just woken up and was heading out for breeding. Maybe that's an injury from another animal that got him? I'm not sure... But definitely ditch the heat lamp, I'd actually suggest releasing it in order to give it the best shot. I doubt he'll start eating for you.

 

[JMK]

Gravel is also a bad idea.

Use coconut substrate.

I use the chunky kind, and keep it moist.

Also, you shouldn't touch him, it irritates their skin at the very least, leads to sickness easily.

Just think of him like a fish...

Earthworms are the best food... Every few days...

That and keeping him cool is pretty much all you need... Fairly easy to take care of once you follow the rules...