Boiled Salamander!

[jamminnewt]

Help! I changed my water dish in my california (red) salamander's tank but I used hot water. When I left the room to get ice cubes one had already crawled in!!!
I took him out and put him in a cool water bath immediately. He curled up and is still moving a little but his eyes are closed and I can't see him breathing. If I touch him he squirms, so he's alive, but I'm not going to keep hurting his scalded skin. Is there any hope? Is there anything I can do to help heal his skin or alleviate the pain?! I am so upset! They never jump right in after I change the water- I usually have to place them back in to let them know its ok.

PLEASE help!!!

 

[Abrahm]

How hot was the new water in the enclosure? Why didn't you allow the water to cool outside of the aquarium? Creating dangerous conditions in the aquarium where your animals can blunder into it is not a good plan.

If you actually scalded the newts skin I would not have too much hope for it, but if the water was just warm you may have done more damage by immediately moving the newt to cool water. The shock of quickly changing environmental conditions, whether it is temperature or hardness can be much more dangerous than a short term exposure to a suboptimal condition.

The best advice would be to reduce the newt's stress level by as much as possible. Do not handle or poke your animal. Keep the temperature as constant as possible and reduce the lighting. It can be very difficult to see newts breathe as they can obtain oxygen through their skin and often times take few actual gulps of air.

 

[jamminnewt]

I knew that too. That I shouldn't change the temperature drastically. I stopped thinking. He's moving around and trying to sit up. His arms and legs aren't bending very well and his eyes aren't open but he's somewhat alert. I have some neosporin with no pain-killer in it. Should I put some on him or just leave him to heal for a day or two?

 

[Abrahm]

Do you have any idea how warm the water was that the newt got into? I think that will be pretty important to what you need to do to help him recuperate.

As for neosporin I wouldn't use any at the moment. If there is no actual burns on the newt than the neosporin would probably be more of a problem as you will have to stress the newt by holding him and applying the ointment not to mention the affects of the ointment itself.

 

[jamminnewt]

Extremely warm. Insanely warm for a newt.

 

[freves]

Since the average human body temperature is around 98.6 F anything that feels warm to the touch is generally going to be at least that warm, if not much hotter...
Chip

 

[lilsoul]

your not suppose to put neosporin on burns

 

[MRIGUY]

With burns the greatest challenges in the acute stage is fluid management and infection control. For a variety of reasons the fluid will migrate from intracellular to extracellular spaces and dehydration is a real problem. It is normally treated with iv fluids but in a sal that is doubtfull at best. Infection is a secondary problem that will need to be addressed if the newt survives the next day or so. Cool, Damp, and quiet are all you can do now. Given the sensitive nature of the eyes and oral tissues I am concerned that if there is ANY burn to the face he may be unable to eat and without a steady source of protein he will have trouble recovering. I wish you the best and hope the water was not as hot as you think. As difficult as it may be to hear you should also be prepared to euthanize the newt if he is really burned. A visit to an experienced Vet is definately in order.

You should also take away from this a valuable lesson. If it is unsuitable for the animals in any way, shape, or form; it does not belong in the tank.

Please keep us posted

 

[jamminnewt]

looking better

I got back from work and peeked in on him. He has got his limbs all straightened out and his eyes are open. I don't know if he can see anything, but they are open and look normal. Believe me, I am taking a very serious lesson from this.