Cut or abrasion on arm

I just bought a couple of yellow spotted salamanders. My female came with a cut, bite, or abrasion on her arm... How should I keep her until it is healed.. Should I put neospoirin and saline? Help!

Does this look like it needs antibiotics or does it look like it will be okay with saline and neosporin?

That looks nasty. It’s difficult to tell if it’s a sore or a wound. It doesn’t look that fresh because the edges are sealed. A non-infected wound will normally heal without treatment and in this case that might include the lower part of the limb dropping off completely due to the depth (it should grow back). Be it wound or sore I would recommend keeping it on damp towels and in isolation until it fully heals. You should be able to establish if it’s deteriorating or healing by monitoring it over the next few days. If the sore spreads or looks infected you could start a topical treatment. See: Caudata Culture Articles - Sores

At the moment the sal looks plump and healthy otherwise. Keep it on clean damp towel, keep it cool and give it somewhere dark to hide. Minimal stress will help it recover. A lack of appetite might indicate a worsening situation. I've seen worse wounds and sores heal on salamanders but the outcome is never certain.

Good luck!

I made a vet appointment for Saturday. I hope they dont want to amputate it I hope they will give a topical antibiotic and silverdine and tell me it will heal....

Does anyone else have anything to say on this? I am taking her to vet Saturday.... I really hope they don't recommend amputation.

I would echo what MArk has already said. Going to the vet is good. Best of luck with the appt today.

Well I got some silvadine solution. They said to keep doing what I was doing with the silvadene replacing the neosporin.... The vet is contacting others to see it there is anything else that can be done.

They gave me some silvadene cream and told me to rinse the cut and apply silvadene as often as possible (meaning it should be on at all times) keep her on the paper towels.... the vet is checking with some contacts to see if they know anything else to help her.... They did find some bacteria in the wound, but fungus. So far they dont think that they will have to amputate...


So....questions...

1. Does anyone know if Baytil is okay to use?
2. She seems to want to eat everyday....is overfeeding bad right now, or will that help her heal quicker?
3. If it comes down to amputation, do they usually anestatize?

nursemelody said:

So....questions...

1. Does anyone know if Baytil is okay to use?
2. She seems to want to eat everyday....is overfeeding bad right now, or will that help her heal quicker?
3. If it comes down to amputation, do they usually anestatize?

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1. If it's not infected there's no need to treat with an antibiotic. I would just continue with the antibacterial cream and monitor for infection.

2. A healthy appetite is a very good sign. Overfeeding is bad for any animal be it caudate or human . Just feed as normal. Small meals regularly will help monitor appetite.

3. If the limb is badly damaged it may drop off during the healing process anyway. If this is going to happen the limb below the wound will turn dark, shrivel and may grow fungus as the tissue dies. If this happens your vet might decide to amputate. I assume they would use some kind of aesthetic for the procedure. If the lower limb remains healthy there's no need to amputate.

well she died.... they are sending me a replacement... silvadene couldnt save her.... maybe the bacteria was in her blood and killed her, I dunno... seemed to be healing and then this morning... dead on her back

Sorry to hear about your salamander. I thought she was going to recover. How sad