CosmicEscapist
New member
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- Mar 26, 2019
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- Location
- Vancouver, Washington
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Please note that I'm going to describe animal blood and injury, if reading this may upset you, please steer clear.
Hello,
I've been raising Oolong, a wild-caught Northwestern Salamander (ambystoma gracile) for a little over a year so I know this might be difficult to diagnose ...
He's been hiding / burrowing more and more lately. I usually let him be since unearthing him or extracting him from under his pool / moss stresses him out, but he wasn't pursuing bugs I offered him, so I took him out for a feeding to see if he'd respond to anything. He turned down what we have (red wigglers, mealworms, and waxworms) and I noticed his skin looked drier than usual. I misted him, noticing a clump of dirt stuck to the area where his back leg meets his tail ... he started thrashing even though it was a gentle misting, and to my horror blood was present under the dirt. He's bleeding from his vent area, it spooked me badly but he doesn't seem to be bleeding quickly. The blood that came off with the dirt was moderately thick and like a gooey strand, likely clotting to begin healing.
I put him in a spare "quarantine" tank that's bare except for a clean athletic shirt (smooth moisture-wicking fabric, I'm hoping to keep track of his bleeding without aggravating his skin this way) and one of his pools that I cleaned very thoroughly. He is in the guest bathroom, since it is cooler in there, it can be kept dark like he prefers, and receives no foot traffic. I am hoping this will keep him less stressed.
I went for his tank next and went searching for problems. I found the following :
- there are tiny, almost non-visible little white bugs hanging out near his second pool. I can't identify them. The only traits I can distinguish is that they are vaguely oval shaped and white ... he had orange mite-looking bug problems once many months ago but everything in his tank had been replaced after that.
-his old bug problem had them clinging to parts around his legs, presumably where he couldn't reach. I had to scrape them off. Notably, this problem is different. I don't see bugs on him, and it's one seemingly large spot, unless it's illness related bleeding.
- his digging unearthed some rocks that I had used to anchor some fake plants & weigh down the corners of a drainage mesh. A scrape is possible.
-he has always done little hiccup / burb looking motions when he's distressed (if I've handled him) but those are usually full-body. He appears to be doing a twitch on his right side between his foreleg and back leg, as if he had a very quick cramp. Normally, this motion seemed to be to make bubbles if he's in water ... I'm afraid to dunk him in water with what might be an open cut so I don't know if he's bubbling but my gut says he probably isn't.
There's an "exotics" pet doctor a friend recommended that I call tomorrow when they open but I wanted to see if anyone would have any leads, or tips ... many thanks for reading. I'll keep this updated in case anyone in the future comes up with a similar problem.
Hello,
I've been raising Oolong, a wild-caught Northwestern Salamander (ambystoma gracile) for a little over a year so I know this might be difficult to diagnose ...
He's been hiding / burrowing more and more lately. I usually let him be since unearthing him or extracting him from under his pool / moss stresses him out, but he wasn't pursuing bugs I offered him, so I took him out for a feeding to see if he'd respond to anything. He turned down what we have (red wigglers, mealworms, and waxworms) and I noticed his skin looked drier than usual. I misted him, noticing a clump of dirt stuck to the area where his back leg meets his tail ... he started thrashing even though it was a gentle misting, and to my horror blood was present under the dirt. He's bleeding from his vent area, it spooked me badly but he doesn't seem to be bleeding quickly. The blood that came off with the dirt was moderately thick and like a gooey strand, likely clotting to begin healing.
I put him in a spare "quarantine" tank that's bare except for a clean athletic shirt (smooth moisture-wicking fabric, I'm hoping to keep track of his bleeding without aggravating his skin this way) and one of his pools that I cleaned very thoroughly. He is in the guest bathroom, since it is cooler in there, it can be kept dark like he prefers, and receives no foot traffic. I am hoping this will keep him less stressed.
I went for his tank next and went searching for problems. I found the following :
- there are tiny, almost non-visible little white bugs hanging out near his second pool. I can't identify them. The only traits I can distinguish is that they are vaguely oval shaped and white ... he had orange mite-looking bug problems once many months ago but everything in his tank had been replaced after that.
-his old bug problem had them clinging to parts around his legs, presumably where he couldn't reach. I had to scrape them off. Notably, this problem is different. I don't see bugs on him, and it's one seemingly large spot, unless it's illness related bleeding.
- his digging unearthed some rocks that I had used to anchor some fake plants & weigh down the corners of a drainage mesh. A scrape is possible.
-he has always done little hiccup / burb looking motions when he's distressed (if I've handled him) but those are usually full-body. He appears to be doing a twitch on his right side between his foreleg and back leg, as if he had a very quick cramp. Normally, this motion seemed to be to make bubbles if he's in water ... I'm afraid to dunk him in water with what might be an open cut so I don't know if he's bubbling but my gut says he probably isn't.
There's an "exotics" pet doctor a friend recommended that I call tomorrow when they open but I wanted to see if anyone would have any leads, or tips ... many thanks for reading. I'll keep this updated in case anyone in the future comes up with a similar problem.