Now wash your hands!

[mike]

When I clean my Salamandra boxes, I pick up the inhabitants and transfer them to a temporary holding box. The dirty substrate is discarded, the container and plastic/cork hides washed, and new paper towel, sprayed with aged water is replaced. The salamanders are then tipped back into their home. I therefore only handle them once through this procedure.
Am I being over precautious, or just plain paranoid?

 

[alan]

Mike, could you clarify whether your question is primarily about the health of the sals or about your own health?
I wouldn't say you were being overcautious - this is exactly what I do with this type of sterile setup. Actually, I tend to coax the sal into a small plastic box for transfer to the temporary holding container without picking it up if possible. Handling the sals as little as possible is good for them. Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about your your own health, as long as:
- you are fit and healthy
- not immunocompromised
- wash your hands immediately afterwards
- don't put them anywhere near your face before washing.
If the phone rings, ignore it! (But then, that's good advice at all times, n'est pas?

)

 

[mike]

Oui c'est vrai!
I wasn't thinking of my own health Alan.
I'm past help.

 

[alan]

I've never experienced any harm come to a terrestrial phase sal due to brief handling such as gentle transfer to a box, but if you can avoid touching them altogether, pourquois non?
My tiger certainly squeaks if I pick it up (as discussed in another thread), though I suspect this is more instinctive rather than genuine distress - unless it's just angry because I didn't feed it!

 

[sergé]

I prefer the less handling as possible. So, perhaps I am as paranoid as you ;-)

 

[mike]

I once bought some juvenile sals which appeared perfectly healthy, until next day one was seen gaping, and coughed blood on to the paper substrate. I quarantined all six in separate containers, in a makeshift room, but within the week they had all died. I also lost animals that were housed in adjacent boxes to them within the first 24 hours of acquiring them. I now quarantine all animals, for 6 weeks in a separate room.
Another good argument for strict hygiene between handling animals is cited in Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry. K.M.Wright & B.R.Whitacker,2001.
"It is important not only for hygienic reasons, but to avoid the unintentional transfer of any noxious secretions or pheromone-containing substances from one animal to another. The skin and glandular secretions of one species may be deleterious to another. Amphibians have a well developed olfactory sense, and pheromones are an important mode of communication in many species. Territorial salamanders for example, communicate their dominance partly via chemical cues. It is possible to transfer these pheromones from one individual to another during handling, thus spreading stressful pheromonal cues among the animals."

 

[sergé]

Well, as they are all amphibians they all have a delicate balanced skin with bacteria, fungi, excretions, poisons etc. Some are more vulnerable than others, but I have seen Neurergus sp. which were freshly bought transferred to a container which had contained Triturus carnifex for some time, but it was cleaned/flushed with some running tap water before entering the Neurergus sp.. However minutes these Neurergus were gasping for breath...
You can never be too cautious to my opinion, and all this is also the main reason why people should keep species separate. Although nothing is visible chemical communication can be very stressful.