A. mavortium shedding problem

[Limede]

Ok, so it has been exactly one week since i have her on paper towel. I've been applying silvadene everyday except thursday, to see if she would shed. But so far, no signs of shedding, since she still has the same black spots in her belly.

I supose that the fungus she has on her belly are dead, and that when she sheds, it should become normal again, after that I will transfer her to a plastic tub (her new home) that has at least the same area size than her old tank, and more ventilation. The substrate will be something new for me and to her, coco fiber + peat moss (about 50/50). I've never used peat moss before.

I'll continue to apply silvadene every two days now, to see if it stimulates the shedding.

 

[evut]

I believe (sphagnum) peat moss is generally not recommended for salamanders because of its low pH. You might want to test it.

 

[Limede]

Thanks for the heads up Eva, I didn't know this.
I already tested the pH, and i believe it was close to 5, so i'm guessing i'll have to go for the plain coco fiber.

 

[Limede]

I changed the substrate to 100% coconut fiber again, and also moved her to the "new" plastic tub, that as I said, as at least the same area as her old tank, but also has more ventilation.

I decided to change her today for the following reasons:

-She hasn't shed since i started to apply silvadene. And she usually shed after 1-2 treatments after I place her in coconut fiber substrate, but she hasn't done it in the paper towel.

-The black spots are actually peeling off, something i think i've never seen... Only with the old skin when she sheds.

I'm hoping that she sheds in the next few days in her new home. She also ate a zophoba with no problems.

 

[evut]

Have you seen this article about substrates: Caudata Culture Articles - Vivarium Substrates It is very informative.
I think zophobas isn't an ideal food item, it looks quite hard. Softer types of worm (earthworms mainly) are much better. I wouldn't recommend waxworms though as my salamanders suffered impaction from them. There is also an overview of food here: Caudata Culture Articles - Food Items for Captive Caudates

 

[Limede]

Yes, I know. I feed her red wigglers too (E. foetida). I'm trying to get a hold of L. terrestris, but it has been hard to find, since all websites that sell worms, are focused on farming them for compost, so they only sell red wigglers.

Also, zophobas are easier to dust with calcium and vitamins, and that's what i usually do.

 

[Limede]

Alright, so i checked her today, and she looks much better. Only a small fading spot, that will probably fade in the next few days. Tomorrow i'll probably check on her, and most likely apply silvadene, one last time (i hope).

Here is her new home

Nothing fancy, I might get some pvc pipe in there to make a different cave for her.

This holes are all around the tub.

And the top is well ventilated as well.

Also, the eye thingy that I mention in the first posts, still remains, even after the week in the paper towel setup. I have no idea of what it can be. She ate a worm today.

 

[Cliygh and Mia]

Hey, mine has an eye issue as well. Could the eye issue possibly be related to yours?

 

[gtrheroine]

Hi ?I don't know if this helps but I know about salamander eye problems as my sallie has metabolic bone disease and what it can do is change the structure of the eye socket or duct so that it becomes more recessed. My salamander had an eye that was buggy, as all salamander do, but as his disease progresses now his eye is less bulgy and flatter and he blinks differently. I just wanted to let you know - it's probably not the case for your salamander but I thought I'd let you know since I had no idea what this was until I went to the vet. A vet can check calcium levels and treat mbd orally or topically. The eye won't go back to normal but I can tell you my salamander is ok in that department. I use one genteel eye drop in his eye when if looks a little dry. A vet visit is always a good idea.

 

[gtrheroine]

Ps- my vet recommended phoenix worms because they have the correct calcium ratio. If mbd caused this those works are a great way to get him proper calcium. You can get them online.

 

[gtrheroine]

Here is a picture of my salamander. The eye on the right is affected by mbd. It's actually much better than was.

 

[Limede]

Hey, mine has an eye issue as well. Could the eye issue possibly be related to yours?

No idea if it might be related.

Here is a picture of my salamander. The eye on the right is affected by mbd. It's actually much better than was.

That's a grumpy looking sal eheh.
Dunno if it might be related, because the actual eye looks alright, the problem seems to reside on the skin near it, I think.
Anyway, I would like to try phoenix worms, but they are really hard to get in my country.

Unfortunely, seems like I need to continue applying the silvadene on her, but she looks much better than before. I'm just afraid that as soon as I stop the treatment, that it goes back to how it was.

 

[Cliygh and Mia]

No idea if it might be related.

I have some pics of him in my album

 

[Limede]

I have some pics of him in my album

Doesn't look like so from those pics.

Continuing my ranting,
unfortunately seems like the spots are still reappearing, I might need to try a different anti-fungal ointments at this point.

The options I've been looking into are:
Canesten (Clotrimazole); Mycozole (Miconazole nitrate); Trosyd (Tioconazole); Lamisil [Hydrophobic: Terbinafine hydrochloride]; Loceryl/Locetar (Amorolfine)

I've only found a case of someone recommending Canesten to be used in amhibians, here .
And Mycozole is a anti-fungal specific for pets, the product says it can be used in amphibians but I haven't find anywhere feedback from it, related to amphibians.

The other alternatives are common anti-fungals used to treat athlete's foot, and I haven't found anything relating them to amphibians. However, Lamisil being hydrophobic, I'm not sure if it would be worse or better for the salamander. The first link in this post as a quote that states the following:

"It appears also that even though frogs sick with frog chytrid are often dehydrated, placing them in a water bath may actually accelerate the infection. Most chytrid including this one that kills frogs are stimulated to release zoospores on contact with water. If possible try to avoid placing frog in a water bath and just keep them in a moist environment."

This quote is refering to chytrid, which I know my sal doesn't have, but I suppose the fungus may react in similar way when contact with the water. Would a hydrophobic barrier make it impossible for the fungus to release zoospores?

Anyways, if I try any of those, i would probably try Canesten first. As anyone ever used it with success?

 

[Limede]

A quick update now,
Last time I used any type of ointment it was exactly one month ago.
I used canestene on the 20th, 21th and 22th of last month.

This is a photo of her belly 1 or 2 weeks after I used it on her

Today I checked her again and those spots are a little less, but a little darker and rounder.
I'll see again in a week.

 

[Limede]

I checked on her yesterday. Even less spots and not so dark as last time.
A recent pic:

 

[herpvet]

Ok, i'll continue the monologue.


For anyone who's interested in knowing the proportions of baytril to use, my salamander weight was 58grams at the time. So it's about 0,1ml of baytril (in 500ml of water) for each 14,5grams of weight.

Sorry just seen this, but wanted to point out that (assuming this is a bath dose) in general a bath dose is per volume of water, not per weight of animal - it's to give a specific concentration in the water. This (in theory - it's rarely properly backed up by full pharmacokinetic data) will be absorbed by the animal to give a desired concentration of drug systemically (or will have a specific concentration at the surface for surface lesions).

Of course always go with the specific dose recommended by your vet, but in general a bath dose (in terms of concentration) does not usually depend on the weight of the animal. There are all sorts of other things that might affect the dose in practice - in theory a smaller/younger/more active/different species/different life stage/different sex/different reproductive status/etc animal might need a different dose so a vet might go with a different concentration - but the statement above needs clarification. Using a quarter the dose for a 15 g salamander would probably be way too low.

Anyway, glad to hear he's improving.

Bruce.

 

[Limede]

Thanks for the retification Bruce.
I just assumed the quantity was related to the weight because my vet weighted her before saying how much I should administrate.
But of course, I also assumed it was a direct proportion, which might not be the case.

I will edit my comment so that people don't take it as fact. (Edit: Apparently I can't edit such a old comment, so I don't know what to do about it)

 

[Teeglor]

Thank you for your posting! I have a tiger as well, and thanks to this post I will know what to do if he ever gets spots or eye issues.

Beautiful salamander by the way!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Limede]

Thanks Teeglor, apreciated.

I will also say, that I checked once again last week, and I could barely see any spots. Only a really faint one. I will check on her this weekend, and hopefully it will be as good as new!