White dots on gills

[rjshapi]

We have a spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) newt about six weeks old with tiny white dots on its' gills. In the attached photo these dots are most visible on the salamander's left gills, but they can be seen running the length of most of its gills.

These dots could be a fungal/bacterial infection but we're not sure. This newt has had them for about 4-5 days and so far its' tank mate has not caught it. The newt with white dots has not eaten in a few days.

Does anyone know what these white dots are and what we should be doing about them if anything?

These two spotted salamander newts are from a batch of five larvae that hatched on 4/22. During heat wave last week, they all got very frantic, and we lost one of the five. We now have the remaining four newts in two plastic shoe boxes with paper towel substrate. Water temps are being maintained between 63-71 degrees farenheit with complete water changes every other day and partial water changes in between. Since none of the newts were eating well and one died, we've been trying to keep temps low around 65-66 degrees. This seems to keep water bubbles on surface down. Because we not using a tank, we were not sure an ammonia testing kit would be effective w/ the amount of water we have, but are reconsidering this. Yesterday temp went up to 70 and all four ate. After they hatched, we started out feeding daphnia, then tubifex/blood worms and are now feeding black worms w/ occasional tubifex/blood worm. They like to sleep under paper towel substrate except the sick one is swimming about; no one ate this morning. Temp is 67 degrees today.

We read through portions of Caudata's info sheet and search the site. Any help is most appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Jennewt]

I'm having difficulty seeing what white spots you are referring to. The "twigs" of the gills look healthy. The "trunks" of the gills have some gold-flecked color, which looks like normal coloration to me.

You are doing well to keep the temperature down. Are the paper towels to provide hiding places? Paper towels are a standard substrate for terrestrial setups, but I've never heard of using them in an aquatic setup.

 

[rjshapi]

Thanks very much for your reply. The info was very helpful. Today has been a new day. The appetite of all four salamanders appears to have returned, and they are eating quite well!

I'm attaching three more photos; two of the salamander larvae with dots on the trunks of its' gill, and one of its' tank mate who does not have the dots. The color of the first photo of the salamander larvae with dots appears more green because of the lighting and the dots/flecks appear to be more golden yellow.

We are new at raising salamanders, and have been cautious since we lost one salamander last week, but it appears that you could be correct in that the dots are just pigmentation. (Have you every seen an infection that looks like this?) None of the other salamander larvae have these dots on the gills yet which is why they caught our attention. Their pigmentation especially on the legs and tail are comprised of many dots, but we didn't realize that the trunks of the gills could have dotted pigmentation too. So, thank you for letting us know.

Even though it is way too early for the larvae to begin morphing, it appeared that the salamander who died might have drowned. So, to be safe, we tilted their plastic shoe box container at an angle and put paper toweling in place in case they needed to climb out. They did not try to climb out, so we've since leveled out the container, but kept the paper toweling. It does give them another hiding space and better traction for walking. Right now we have two larvae per shoe box container.

Thanks again for your response and interest. If you have any other thoughts or tips, please let us know.