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Sick,potentially dying tiger sal, HELP!

camroonie

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I have 2 tiger salamanders, I had 3, but one mysteriously died a week ago...

Rufus is very lethargic and refusing food. It looks like he is trying to throw up... opens mouth really wide and made gurgly noise. Then it looks like he is swallowing.

He was very energetic yesterday and today he would not come out of his hide.

Does anyone know what could be happening or if there is anything I can do??????
 

JoshBA

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What are your enclosure conditions like (temperature, substrate, etc.)?.
-Edit: beat me to it Jennewt!!!
 

camroonie

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I have had them since October so I think they are about 7 months old. Their terrarium is a mixture of Eco Earth and organic pesticide-free topsoil. I keep them in my room with the window cracked (my apt heat is super warm) so the temp is around 60, maybe 65 tops. I feed them nightcrawlers purchased from a petstore. They had crickets about 2 months ago. I have a few patches of moss in there that I got from my pesticide-free wooded property. I fill their water bowl with purified Brita water.

Nothing new has been added to the terrarium since it was warm out (maybe early November). They have been eating the same 'batch' of worms for at least a month and a half.

One of them (Fido) was hibernating for quite a while so he is a lot smaller than the other 2. The one that died (Spot) was the largest and was very active.

The one that is sick is Rufus, and he is the second largest, also usually very active.

Rufus was fine Thursday... came over to the glass as usual hoping for food. I didn't feed him because I had fed him almost a whole worm the night before. I went to feed him Friday and he was nowhere to be found. Fido came out to eat and was fine. I found Rufus buried under the water bowl, looking like it was hard for him to move. When I put the worm piece by his nose he retracted and tried to get away but couldn't move very much. Then he started heaving and opening his mouth really really wide. It was very disturbing. After doing that for awhile he looked like he was trying to swallow. Something pinkish came out a little bit but it was hard to see, he re-swallowed it.I felt his abdomen to see if I could feel any obstruction but it was soft.

When I last checked on him he wasn't heaving but looked like he was panting, if you can imagine that type of body movement. What I also thought was strange is that Fido was curled up with him.

Does this sound like Rufus has an impaction? I cannot think of anything else... But it is strange that Spot died a week ago and now Rufus is acting strange.
 

camroonie

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Here are a few pics of the set-up from a little bit back. Sometimes the dirt gets clumpy so I try to take out any big chunks every so often.
 

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AfroNewtkeeper

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I have to agree with regards to the vet trip, I'm afraid. Don't worry about them curling up together, that's normal enough- my newts do it every night. Also, I don't see anything wrong with your setup, although he could have ingested a small pebble if any were lying around.
 

camroonie

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I am very sad to report that Rufus has died. :'(

After reading everyone's suggestions I thought it was best to take him and the other 'healthy' sal Fido to the vet (Sunday).

At the vet Rufus seemed like he was a little better but had a very swollen cloaca. They took a stool sample and ran some tests... he had a high level of Strongyloides and some sort of flagellate protozoa. They gave him a quick dose of de-worming medicine and sent me home with some for both him and Fido.

I gave them the medicine last night, as suggested. When I checked on Rufus this morning he was still lethargic but his cloaca was no longer inflamed. I thought this was a good sign and I was excited he was getting better.

When I came home after work/class, he was gone. Still looked so cute, like he was still alive. :'( I looked and the inside of his cloaca looked very inflamed.

Now Fido, the one who was healthy yesterday, has a red, swollen cloaca. I gave him another daily dose of the de-worming medication. I am praying that it's not too late for him but it happened so quickly with Rufus that I fear the worst.

I really appreciate everyone's help. I will keep you posted on Fido's condition.
 

camroonie

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More sad news... Fido is gone. He held on for awhile but I noticed that he was bleeding quite a bit. Glad that he didn't suffer for long. :(

<3 R.I.P. Spot, Rufus, and Fido <3
 

Ted

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Oh no! I am so sorry to hear of your loss.

Camroomie...sorry for your losses..I just lost one of my tigers last month..a very large yellow barred I had for 5 years,,fine the night before,that afternoon dead. No apparent reason,and I'm still upset over it.its in my freezer now,and my niece is a vet,so I'll take it to her in the future for an autopsy,hopefully I'll get some answers.
 
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