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Fire Salamander concerns

Mike Gent

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Hello All!

My name is Mike Gent, I live in Nottingham England and have been keeping Amphibians on and off for the past 30 years. I am new to this site but couldnt resist joining after visiting a few times!

Superb site, well done to all involved and good luck for the future.

Can anybody shed any light on an issue we have with a fire?

Having already a healthy male terrestris of approx 5 years, we decided to invest in 2 females to 'accompany' him in his 'world'!

Both new arrivals were quite plump (In a healthy way) and 1 in particular already looked very gravid! (Bad news to our male as it doesnt look like he is going to be THE father!)

All 3 settled in together well and apart from the fact that the male seems to have taken a shine to the gravid female (He tends to rest with her no matter where she decides to lay!) every thing looked OK.

However, all 3 have been very quiet for a few days now and 1 of the females (The slimmer of the 2) has been very 'still', slightly pale in her yellow and seems to be experiencing a long drawn out skin sheddding episode.

To appease my young son, I explained that she is perhaps unhappy due to the fact that the male is spending his time with her friend!

The only thing to have changed is the weather which has suddenly turned up and results in the tank temp sitting at 22-25 a lot.

Can anybody help?

Looking forward to any replies...or even just some hello's from fellow FIRE enthusiasts.

Cheers,

Mike.
 

Abrahm

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Hello, Mike!

I would imagine that temperatures that are that warm could certainly have an effect on your fire salamanders, especially if one of them is already stressed. I would advise trying to get the temperature down on their cage.
 

Jennewt

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Welcome, Mike. I agree that the temperature, even if it's not the primary reason for their lethargy, is not good. Is there a cooler place in the house where they could be moved? The other thing to consider is that "new arrivals" often arrive in a very stressed-out condition. It takes some time to get them fully stabilized, and until then they are susceptible to various infections and problems. Problems with shedding can be an indicator of general ill health.
 

John

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You're pushing the temperature tolerance of terrestris. That isn't going to help. If she looks like she's not shedding correctly, you can help remove the skin (moisten her a little and then gently pull it off if you can get a hold of it).

Were these females wild caught? You must bear in mind that they undergo a lot of stress when captured from the wild, then going through transportation and then finding a new home. If they are captive bred, I would be more willing to blame the temperature issue, exacerbated by change in environment.

Good luck.
 

Mike Gent

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Thank you very much for the quick response. Tonight all is quiet on the Sally front....I feel it best at the moment to give them all a little piece to let them calm down and settle in.

Cheers,

Mike
 
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