Question: Sudden death, 2 year old tiger salamander.

[lleebody]

Hi all,
Still recovering mentally from the sudden death of my tiger salamander and need answers, he was purchased as an adult through a pet shop nearly exactly 2 years ago (purchased in September 20) I came into my animal room last week (20.10.22) to find him belly up in his water dish! I am devastated and have no clean clue what I have done wrong.

Accommodation - He was in a fully planted, bioactive 90x45x60 exo terra, with jungle dawn. Nothing has changed in the last 2 years, with an average room temp - 20oC - 23oc - humidity levels average of about 72%
Large flat (shallow) water dish available but appeared to be rarely used, water dish changed daily with bottled, refrigerated water.

Feeding - Always an excellent feeder, always tong fed, 4-5 crickets 2-3 times a week, he would always show himself when he was wanting food. 1 point - he had rejected a feed the Wednesday before he died on Thursday which is the 1st time this had ever happened and I noted it down on his observation records because it was out of character for him to do that.

Behaviour - always what I would have considered "normal" for the species, kept himself to dark/shaded areas, burrowed rarely, and always reappeared for food within a day or two.

Note - Because he came from a pet shop, I was promised he was captive-bred, but I can't be 100% sure of this. He showed no signs of deterioration other than refusing 1 feed.

Please would any one have any information as to what on earth happened?! I can find nothing and I feel like an awful keeper that has let this beautiful animal down, badly.
Thank you
Laura

 

[axolotl nerd]

Hi all,
Still recovering mentally from the sudden death of my tiger salamander and need answers, he was purchased as an adult through a pet shop nearly exactly 2 years ago (purchased in September 20) I came into my animal room last week (20.10.22) to find him belly up in his water dish! I am devastated and have no clean clue what I have done wrong.

Accommodation - He was in a fully planted, bioactive 90x45x60 exo terra, with jungle dawn. Nothing has changed in the last 2 years, with an average room temp - 20oC - 23oc - humidity levels average of about 72%
Large flat (shallow) water dish available but appeared to be rarely used, water dish changed daily with bottled, refrigerated water.

Feeding - Always an excellent feeder, always tong fed, 4-5 crickets 2-3 times a week, he would always show himself when he was wanting food. 1 point - he had rejected a feed the Wednesday before he died on Thursday which is the 1st time this had ever happened and I noted it down on his observation records because it was out of character for him to do that.

Behaviour - always what I would have considered "normal" for the species, kept himself to dark/shaded areas, burrowed rarely, and always reappeared for food within a day or two.

Note - Because he came from a pet shop, I was promised he was captive-bred, but I can't be 100% sure of this. He showed no signs of deterioration other than refusing 1 feed.

Please would any one have any information as to what on earth happened?! I can find nothing and I feel like an awful keeper that has let this beautiful animal down, badly.
Thank you
Laura

i'm no expert in terrestrial amphibians, but from what i've read i can't pinpoint a cause of death. around how old was he? it could have been natural causes, such as old age or an undiagnosed illness with minimum symptoms, but i'm not sure either way. his enclosure looks and sounds perfect, so i don't think it's anything there. again, i'm no expert on tiger salamanders, but i'm personally stumped on this one.
calling @Autistic Catholic and @wolfen for their imput.
i'm so sorry that you've had to go through this, especially so suddenly. PMs are open if you need to talk about it

 

[MnGuy]

No one can diagnose your salamander's death except for a vet.

What kind of bottled water were you using? People think bottled water is better, but unless your tap water is horribly contaminated, it is the best option as long as you treat it with a dechlorinator. Please stop using bottled water.

If the bottled water you used was distilled that's very bad. Distilled water has no ions in it and will damage an amphibian's liver.

Someone here lost an axolotl after keeping it in pure, bottled distilled water.

 

[lleebody]

Omg! I don't think it's distilled, just filtered and chilled.

 

[MnGuy]

Omg! I don't think it's distilled, just filtered and chilled.

I would stop using bottled water for any amphibian moving forward. I don't want to sound mean, but if you aren't sure what kind of water it is/was, that's not a good thing. It's important to know what you're using.

 

[Creekratt]

Just to add. ATV Ambystoma tigrinum virus. Not sure of symptoms, but worth researching, as I most definitely will do myself. More than likely he's wild caught. As mentioned, it could of been old age? A intestinal blockage? You could, open the little up and maybe dismiss the blockage? Sorry bout your sallie it can be very easy to get attached to them.

.

 

[Ponds End]

I'm so sorry for your loss Ileebody, it's always hard to lose a pet especially when you don't know the cause.
Idk about anyone else but I've always read that crickets are not a viable staple diet for tigers as they mature and get bigger, especially the barred which get bigger than the other tigers. I feed my eastern tiger a large nightcrawler once a week or so with other crickets, roaches, and grubs as treats. I also give him a calcium supplement every 6 months or so to account for MBD(metabolic bone disease). I haven't heard of ATV with established animals but shouldn't have been a problem unless there was a possibility of contamination from outside water or amphibians, any new water or amphibians in your animal room could have brought this in but its very unlikely as it seems your husbandry was very attentive and careful.
I think the only true way to have an answer would be to bring it to a vet and get a solid diagnosis.