Tiger Salamander dying

My mom rescued him from the wild about 9 years ago, I believe his sore started out from my mom trying to help him a few weeks ago and put a lamp over the tank but i think it got to close and burned him, it looked like a burn, and I believe it got infected. It started as a small puss looking mass, but recently it spread, and just a few days ago the skin off his back has mostly dissappeared. We live no where near anyone with amphibian exotic type animal vets. You can see his spine. We thought he was dead this morning, he was kind of floating in his little water bowl. He has been in it all day, he hasn't ate in weeks. He barely made small movements. Any ideas on how much longer he is going to suffer?

Moderator's Edit: The following picture is fairly graphic and upsetting. Please click at your own risk. The picture can be found here.

Dear god. I'd consider euthanasia for this poor animal. For future reference they don't require any artificial light at all. Though the regenerative qualities of amphibians are amazing, that is probably the worst injury I've ever seen in captive care, personally.

Please humanely euthanize him.

Euthanasia is the best for this animal, since it is clearly suffering.

In the future, amphibians are very sensitive to heat sources of any sort and can easily be burned by things that only feel mildly warm to us. I understand this was an accident, and perhaps a lack of education led to this. It is difficult for us to see such suffering, but we hope that there will be a quick end for this animal and that the rest of it's life was good. Sorry to hear about the animal's injury, and I hope that any future experiences you have are much better than this.

The Clove Oil method may be the easiest for you to do, since it's more widely available. As it says in the article mentioned by Kaysie, you can find it at natural health/food stores and drug stores. Once the animal is entirely unresponsive, the pithing method should work.

Yes, please put him out of his misery. If you live out in the country or somewhere where you can shoot a gun without scaring anyone, I'd personally just shoot it. It might be a little messy, but it's instant as long as you hit it's head.

Even a well-placed shot from a firearm may not actually do it. You have to realize their nervous systems are more primitive, and what is defined as a 'conscious' salamander that can feel some sort of pain or stimulus can include one missing most of it's head. There is no way to ensure a clean shot and maintain one's safety anyway, since you would have to be point-blank and it would leave the shooter vulnerable to shrapnel.

So please, don't shoot it. It's not a good way to go.

Good points Cassie.