Concerned about my tigers

[herbaltree]

Hello! Apologies in advance for the long post, but please read and put my mind at ease (if possible!)

I'm a little bit concerned about my tiger salamanders (probably in just an overreactive 'mum' kind of way, but if I can put my mind at ease..!). I have a male and a female, both large adults. I got one back in September and the other in March and they've lived together since then (apparently they lived together previously too...it was a reunion! )

So anyway, my female had been burrowed for about 20days, which I didn't think too much of as she likes to burrow and did then come up to feed. Shortly after this, I was due to move house so gave the tank a good clean. She was burrowed again so I had to dig her up and when I did I noticed that she had an unusual black spot on her right side. I immediately separated the salamanders, cleaned the tank and got a quarantine tank for the female. The male seemed perfectly fine so he stayed in the main tank.

This pic shows the first spot on her side as it was fading a bit (at the top of the large middle yellow patch).

Unsure if it was dirt, I kind of rubbed it and some of it did come away. It was about 2-3mm diameter and definitely on the outside of her skin.

About 3 days later a few more smaller spots appeared on the same side, as you can see in this pic: (the two solid black spots, one more in the yellow patch to the right of those and also you can see near the rear leg the faint larger spot)


A further 6 days after this, all of the spots on her side had disappeared but this one appeared on her tail.

Again, it was larger, about 2-3mm. The same thing happened when I rubbed it once too, it came away a bit, but then 'regrew' the next day. This spot first appeared about 19 days ago and is still there. It's smaller than it was and doesn't seem to be bothering her, but she's remained in quarantine as I didn't want it to be passed on to my male, should it be anything contagious or sinister.

Since being in quarantine, she's been much more active. This could possibly be because she has less substrate to burrow in (so I can keep an eye on her), because she sees more movement now (had to put the tank under my desk so she always sees my feet!). She's also become a lot snappier. She's always been one to jump about, trying to eat everything that moves, but lately she will jump and snap at literally every single movement. Again, I'm not sure if it's because maybe she's just aware of more movement, or if this is unusual behaviour. I'm just being a bit cautious and wanting reassurance that she'll be ok I suppose?!

Now onto the male! He's eaten since I moved house. I know the move would've been a bit stressful to them both, but about a week after moving I think, he decided to burrow and has been down under for 19 days now. I dug him up tonight just to put my mind at ease, to check he was ok and to feed him. He ate readily and then went straight back into his hidey den. They normally are quite social and will hang out for a bit, and because my female isn't in with him anymore, I'm wondering if he's ok?! He probably is, I think I'm just worrying over nothing now!

But if you can give any insight at all into what might be going on with my female, that'd be a great help. I've looked at previous threads about black spots but they all seem to be fairly varied so I'm not sure if it's really the same.

Thank you!!

[Austin]

Both your salamanders look happy and healthy! I don't think there's much to worry about here. Your female is very pretty

[herbaltree]

Oh you think so?! That's good to hear. So you don't think the spot is anything to worry about? Should I reunite her with Carlos?

And thanks! I think she's very beautiful

[Austin]

Yes I think they'll be fine together. She's healthy, don't worry about the spot. It might go away, it might not. If not, it adds to the beauty!
And you're welcome I've considered getting a tiger, but I have so many Axolotls I don't think there's any more room left in the basement...

[Kaiseric]

I'm dealing with the spots right now from a recent group of tigers I got. I truly believe most of the time it is just a poor husbandry or ph issue. What type of soil/bedding are you using? How old is the bedding?

After receiving the tiger with black spot I simply provided fresh clean fertilizer free substrate, provided a water dish with some crush indian almond leaves, and in 30 days the spots are virtually gone. I'm not saying this will always work as there may be other bacterial/fungal causes, but as with anything else providing optimal conditions won't hurt.

Your tigers look great!

[Kaiseric]

Also, the spots will "go away" with the next shed, but will they reappear.. is the question!

[herbaltree]

She had been burrowed for a few weeks, so I did wonder if maybe she wasn't 'aerated' enough or something, allowing for bacteria or fungus to breed?

I use coco fibre and as soon as I noticed the spots I changed the substrate and her quarantine tank has shallower substrate so that she can't burrow so much. My male doesn't have any spots and he was in the same tank with her. I'm pretty good at keeping on top of cleaning and water changes.

I haven't seen her shed since (I do keep asking her to do so though!). Would it be best to keep her quarantined until the spot has definitely gone, just in case?

[Kaiseric]

Since we don't know an exact cause or causes of the black spots, logically it's probably best to keep them separated because we don't know if it's contagious or not. Just to be on the safe side.

I also HIGHLY recommend a 50/50 coco fibre/top soil (fertilizer and wetting-agent free) substrate as it seems to hold moisture better and provide better seepage/drainage. I used to use just coco fibre and when it dries out, it gets extremely dry.

Do you let worms free-roam in the tank to stir up the soil? This may help prevent gas pockets in the soil. Either way, best of luck!

[herbaltree]

Thanks for your comment guys! Turns out my supervisor knows someone who knows amphib diseases amazingly well, so have sent the photos off to him to try and get a verdict before putting them back together.


And just because..here's my favourite photo of them both when they were housed together