Red salamander: bloat, paralyzed hind legs, balance issues

Hi all, I have a LTC P. ruber that is showing bloating with a "hump" of the back near the base of the tail and paralysis or paresis of the back legs. There appears to be a sizable bolus under the hump (see pictures). While it was in the vivarium, it would occasionally flip over onto its back for up to 30 seconds, then right itself. Note that it did not float or show excessive buoyancy of any body part. The salamander is still active, and I have placed it in a quarantine container with clean dechlorinated water.

Some background: the tank is a semiaquatic 20-gallon tall with about 4-5 gallons of water. The bottom is slate and large river rocks (>2x the size of the salamander's head), though there *are* some small pebbles (~2-4 mm) and fine sand wedged between the slate pieces and the glass that it's possible (though I think unlikely) the salamander could accidentally extract while hunting. There is also some plant matter from the land portion of the tank (mostly LFS). The temperatures lately have been on the high side--~73-75 degrees F during the day and ~68-70 degrees F at night. (I realize these ranges are way above the recommended for ruber, but this one and its tankmate have dealt well with such temperatures for weeks on end in the past). I'm currently out of ammonia test strips, but a multi-purpose strip showed very high nitrate levels and low nitrite levels.

The other salamanders in the enclosure (another ruber and two G. porphyriticus) all appear healthy. They all eat chopped nightcrawlers, with the very occasional waxworm as a treat. This salamander has been considerably chunkier than its fellow red for awhile, but I'd thought that could be due to a sex difference (I even thought it might be gravid for a little bit). This salamander has always been a voracious eater, and may have taken a larger-than-usual piece of nightcrawler several days ago.

In browsing previous threads about similar symptoms (bloat, paralyzed hind legs, balance issues), I've seen ammonia poisoning, constipation & compaction, and general poor health (with high temps as a contributing factor) all cited as possible reasons. I've done a ~1/3 water change with dechlorinated colder water and tried to suction out most of the dead plant matter, in addition to quarantining the affected salamander. Does anyone with experience have any further suggestions? I don't want to rush into potentially risky approaches like fridging or antibiotics, but I also don't want things to get worse because I was indecisive. Much appreciated!!!

An update: after a day of quarantine at temperatures of about 60-65, the salamander still was not improving. I looked up the salt solution for bloat (6 g//1 tsp per liter of water---please let me know if this is wrong!) and decided to try a makeshift "fridging" in salt solution. It's a fairly constant 38-40 degrees outside for the next day and a half, so I set the salamander up on my patio, right next to the wall in order to buffer against any temperature shifts. Hopefully the next update will be an improvement, but please let me know if this is a poor course of action.

Re: Red salamander: swelling, lethargic hind legs, balance issues

Second update: as temperatures were projected to dip below 35 F on Friday evening, I moved the salamander back inside Friday afternoon, trying to keep temperatures in the room <65 F. The salt bath did not appear to have any effect on swelling (which, having done a bit more research, doesn't seem to qualify as "bloat"), so I've slowly replaced that solution with treated tap water.

I've tested the salamander's appetite with very small pieces of nightcrawler about once daily (having read in some threads about constipation that small amounts of food can get the system moving), and it has shown no interest thus far. The hind legs are still generally held out at an angle from the body, but the salamander does move them in response to very gentle touch. I have yet to find any feces, which worries me. Can a salamander fed almost exclusively non-supplemented nightcrawlers (Ca-P ratio ~1.5, per caudata.org's info sheet) get MBD? Though I don't think MBD would explain the lack of defecation. Could ammonia toxicity lead to the hump? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone has taken a salamander to the vet for similar issues, how much did the work-up cost? How about any meds or procedures done?

Re: Red salamander: swelling, lethargic hind legs, humped back

Some pictures from today. I just added a bit more water to the quarantine tank, which may have dropped the temperature a few degrees. I probably ought to have done that more slowly. These pictures show the upturned tail and depression at the base of the tail. The depression at the base of the tail looks far more exaggerated than before I added the water--I don't know if that's due to discomfort at the temperature change, or an attempt to pass an object, or what. /:

A mixed update. First, the bad news: on the wise advice of taherman, I candled the salamander several weeks ago to look for any obstructions in the gut, and found none (not even *any* fecal matter). Instead, there appeared to be a generalized coelomic fluid retention, which could be indicative of kidney damage (per taherman's diagnosis). His advice (which hopefully can be helpful to future visitors with similar problems) was to change my water from treated tap water to something with lower total dissolved solids (TDS), which I slowly did, along with moving the quarantined salamander to an unused 10G tank in our basement storage locker, which stays a pretty constant 55*-60* F (something incredibly obvious that I should have thought of much sooner).

Now, the good-ish news:The first few days were touch-and-go--the back hump, tail-tip curl, and swelling all got worse, and the salamander seemed unable to move its back legs at all. However, after another several days (with the gradual addition of about 3 g/L salt solution) the swelling had subsided some; and today, the tail-tip curl is absent. About a week ago the salamander ate and successfully passed a small piece of nightcrawler; I gave it another one this morning. The salamander still shows the back hump, and only moves its back legs in response to gentle touch or when picked up so I can do cleanup on the tank. I'm hopeful that the regained appetite and reduction in swelling are signs that the salamander's condition is improving. I really don't want to put it through the slow, painful death of terminal kidney failure, but I also don't want to euthanize unless absolutely necessary. Hopefully there will be more positive updates soon.

Sorry no one has been answering you on this thread. Candling, I never thought of that.

Normally if newts got sick.i will use API Furan-2.
if very sick, i will use Furan-2 and keep them in fridge about 4C,. until they are normal again
Furan-2 seems a reliable medication for any kind of newts sickness..so far...
i also read red rubber needs very very cool water maybe the rise in temp caused this bloating and kidney issues

PDONTnAMBY said:

A mixed update. First, the bad news: on the wise advice of taherman, I candled the salamander several weeks ago to look for any obstructions in the gut, and found none (not even *any* fecal matter). Instead, there appeared to be a generalized coelomic fluid retention, which could be indicative of kidney damage (per taherman's diagnosis). His advice (which hopefully can be helpful to future visitors with similar problems) was to change my water from treated tap water to something with lower total dissolved solids (TDS), which I slowly did, along with moving the quarantined salamander to an unused 10G tank in our basement storage locker, which stays a pretty constant 55*-60* F (something incredibly obvious that I should have thought of much sooner).

Now, the good-ish news:The first few days were touch-and-go--the back hump, tail-tip curl, and swelling all got worse, and the salamander seemed unable to move its back legs at all. However, after another several days (with the gradual addition of about 3 g/L salt solution) the swelling had subsided some; and today, the tail-tip curl is absent. About a week ago the salamander ate and successfully passed a small piece of nightcrawler; I gave it another one this morning. The salamander still shows the back hump, and only moves its back legs in response to gentle touch or when picked up so I can do cleanup on the tank. I'm hopeful that the regained appetite and reduction in swelling are signs that the salamander's condition is improving. I really don't want to put it through the slow, painful death of terminal kidney failure, but I also don't want to euthanize unless absolutely necessary. Hopefully there will be more positive updates soon.

Click to expand...

The red is still kicking in its 10G quarantine tank. The back bump and edema are still present, though the edema has gotten significantly better. The salamander ate another piece of worm sometime in the last half-week; I'll be on the lookout for faeces over the next several days.

The most promising sign is that now, not only does the salamander seem to be using both legs with greater frequency, but it makes stereotyped thrashing movements of its torso and tail if the tail is touched. As of about three weeks ago, the tail and torso were pretty much just "along for the ride."

I think that, given the general improvement in the salamander's condition, slow kidney failure seems a lot less likely. Yay! Since there's still some edema present I'm not ready to rule out ammonia toxicity or bad water parameters as the culprit, but it's seeming more and more likely that the animal suffered from a crushing injury to the spine. If that's the case, I'm curious to see how the healing process will play out:

1. The spinal misalignment remains, and the salamander has some degree of paresis of its back limbs and tail/torso for the rest of its life. This seems the most likely scenario.
2. The misalignment is corrected, and the salamander regains full use of its back limbs and tail/torso.
3. The misalignment remains, but the salamander regains full use of its back limbs and tail/torso. This would be really interesting (and hopefully not painful for the salamander).

A (hopefully final) update: with temperatures finally rising into the high 70s here in the Chi, my building's basement storage unit has ceased to be a cool hideaway for the sick sally. Fortunately, when I checked on it today, it was walking normally and the edema seemed to be almost completely gone. (The back hump is still there though.¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) So, since the salamander seemed to have mostly recovered and quarantine was no longer an option, it was moved back in with its tankmates today! It found a little hide and has been chilling there for awhile; I'm guessing it'll be at least 2-3 days before it's back to exploring every nook and cranny of the tank.