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Tiger Salamander bloating..

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joelle

Guest
I have a tiger salamander that I've had for six years, and he hasn't been eating for about two weeks. Usually, he is quite pudgy and eats almost anything. I've never had problems with him before.Two days ago I put a one-litre ice cream pail tipped on it's side in his aquarium, filled with dirt, and this evening my mom and I found him (he's very curious) trying to see what was behind the pail. I had it in the corner, fairly tight against the glass, so he wouldn't hurt himself. He was stuck between the pail and the glass, with his head downwards. He was pretty much all behind the pail except for his back feet and his tail, which was where he was stuck. We took im out and put him back on his dirt and removed the pail so he'd have more room to move. It was then when we noticed that his chin was rather swollen and his back feet were as well. My mom thinks that maybe it's like someone wrapping an elastic band around your finger; the pail cut off his circulation. But after reading some posts on here, I started worrying that he had some internal injuries from being stuck between the glass and the bucket. However, I don't know what internal organs would be near his hind feet that would get damaged. He's labouring a bit when he's breathing, and I'm worried about him. We have no vets in this area that would treat amphibians and especially now they'd all be closed. Any suggestions?
 
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jennifer

Guest
Keep him out of water - someplace slightly moist, but not wet. You could consider doing treatments with salt bath. Other than that, there isn't much you can do.

Besides bloat, infections can also cause swelling of the throat area, though not legs. If he really is bloated, it's cause by fluid retention - the organ involved does not need to be close to the location of the fluid.
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/salt.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/bloatEDK.shtml

If he pulls through, I would mention that you should definately consider using a soil setup, not an aquatic setup, for a tiger sal.
 
J

joelle

Guest
His throat seems to be okay today..
but his back legs are still quite swollen and he doesnt seem to be moving them very well;
He is in a dirt setup right now, but it may be too moist. I used to have him in a gravel and water setup, but we changed that like the day that he got stuck between the bucket..umm..
my mom's putting him on some damp paper towels right now, what does a salt bath do, and is that like just putting him in saltwater or what?
 
J

joelle

Guest
56152.jpg

56153.jpg
 
J

jennifer

Guest
I don't think salt baths would help. I do think that perhaps he was sick (or at least too thin) even before the bucket incident. All I can suggest is good basic care at this point: damp substrate and good food (earthworm chunks).
 
E

edward

Guest
Is the cloaca swollen? If it is a male and the stress has cycled the male, then the hind limbs can be swollen to due the increased size of the cloacal glands. I have seen this occur in A.maculatum.

It is also possible that the head down position prevented the lymph from moving the fluid back out of its tissues resulting in the localized swelling of some of the tissues.
I would also consider this salamander to be very thin.

Ed
 
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