Illness/Sickness: Tiny black spots on Tiger Salamanders

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Sallyhorshu

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Hello everyone!

Cool site, glad to be a member.

I thing I might have a problem with my Tiger Salamanders.
I have 30 gallon tank with two Tiger's and I have half of the tank water and the other half rocks and gravel. They seem to enjoy their habitat, swimming occasionally and laying on the gravel and rocks. I have an under gravel filter running to keep the water clean and it is very clear.
They are very healthy salamanders they eat well and are very fun and interesting to own.
Last weekend they both shed their skins and were looking very good. Just two days later they are showing tiny little blacks spots almost pin size. I have never seen these spots before. I wondering if it is a fungus of some type and if so what I can do to treat them? Has anyone seen this before?

Thanks for you insight...

Sallyhorshu
 
Welcome,

Would you be able to take a picture of these dots? You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Secondly, the set-up you've described is not ideal for Tiger Salamanders. Tigers, by nature, are burrowers, and would much prefer a soil-type set-up, so that they may act out their natural burrowing instincts. While they may seem happy, the set-up you have them in may be stressing them.

Here is the Caudata Culture info sheet on Tiger salamanders. http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml
 
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I will try and get a picture up as soon as I can. Thanks for your reply. I should have probably mentioned that the salamanders do "bury" themselves in the gravel, under rock crevices and then take a daily "swim".
I did a careful examination of one of them. It seems like the small black pinhead size dots are actually in the skin, not on top of the skin as I had previously observed. Would a fungus be below the skin so quickly? Could these spots come with age? I also fed the one I was observing. She grabbed onto a big nightcrawler and ate it up. If she was sick would she still be interested in eating? They really are voracious little devils.
What is your ideal environmental settings for a Tiger salamander? Very little water? Some water? Mud? Please enlighten me.

Thanks again.
 
Personally, I would go with a substrate mix - 75% Coconut fiber, 25% of some kind of "forest" bedding, both of which can be found at large chain pet stores like Petco or Petsmart, or found online at sites like drsfostersmith.com. I'd add a small water dish, and live plants like philodendrons. Maybe a log. A large rock or two.

FWIW, I strongly suspect the pin like dots you're seeing are pores, though I'm not 100% sure Tiger salamanders have them, or that they they would be visible to the naked eye. Perhaps someone more familiar with the species can verify this? Again, a picture would help tremendously. :)
 
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Here is a photo. I circled the small dark spots. They seem to be in the skin, not on top of the skin. They seem like little moles or something.

Looking forward to anyone's diagnosis.

Thanks.
 

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tmarmoratus said:
Personally, I would go with a substrate mix - 75% Coconut fiber, 25% of some kind of "forest" bedding, both of which can be found at large chain pet stores like Petco or Petsmart, or found online at sites like drsfostersmith.com. I'd add a small water dish, and live plants like philodendrons. Maybe a log. A large rock or two. :)
Click to expand...
Butting in, this is pretty much what we did, there are pics if you want to see our tiger set up in the gallery under 'morphed tiger spike'
he loves to dig and hide and really likes the cocount fibre we got him.

hope the spots are coloration or something else not bad,

K9
 
Thanks for the replies from everyone.Today there are more spots on the female. The other salamander, which I believe to be a male has no spots.Mmmmmmm...I'll keep posting any changes as they come.
 
Sallyhorshu said:
I will try and get a picture up as soon as I can. Thanks for your reply. I should have probably mentioned that the salamanders do "bury" themselves in the gravel, under rock crevices and then take a daily "swim".
I did a careful examination of one of them. It seems like the small black pinhead size dots are actually in the skin, not on top of the skin as I had previously observed. Would a fungus be below the skin so quickly? Could these spots come with age? I also fed the one I was observing. She grabbed onto a big nightcrawler and ate it up. If she was sick would she still be interested in eating? They really are voracious little devils.
What is your ideal environmental settings for a Tiger salamander? Very little water? Some water? Mud? Please enlighten me.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Yes, a tiger will continue eating until severely debilitated.

Black spots developing on the skin are not 'normal'... something is going on. Where I've seen/heard of this condition has generally been in association with improper husbandry and in particular....in an overly wet, or aquatic environment. Improper husbandry causes stress and can set-up conditions for a number of problems including infections.

I would strongly recommend changing the environment immediately. The set-up you have is not natural and in my opinion could be contributing to the problem. As others have recommended, you want a terrestrial set-up for this highly fossorial animal - not aquatic. Also, the size of gravel you have could be ingested as the tiger lunges for food - this could lead to intestinal impaction and fatal obstruction. Please refer to the Care Sheet that was referenced.

If one animal has the spots and the other does not (perhaps yet), I would quarantine the one in a hospital tank set-up using moistened paper toweling as substrate. You will see if you read the threads that Jennewt cited, that with medical treatment, the spots can resolve.
 
I'm also wondering if you are lighting the tank. Salamanders do not need any sort of lighting or lamps. This could cause them stress and may contribute to the spots.
 
I'm currently dealing with the same situation with my Tiger salamander...the tiny blacks spots looked just like the ones on your picture only mine also had a huge big black spot on his back. The exotics vet put him on Baytril which seemed to help as well as got me to change his entire habitat to be just moist paper towels, a cave, and a water dish until he's completely better. The big spot went but then he developed more of the pinprick sized one like yours did...I don't really know what to do either!
The comment about the tank being too wet might be good...I'm wondering if I should have my tank on the dry side for a while except for his water dish and see what happens?
Please let me know if you figure out exactly what it is or how to make it better!
 
Oh yeah, the first link of the 2 the jennewt posted is of my little guy and his story. :)
 
Hi at all!

So what are the spots??? (now I have the same with a firesalamander!)
 
Do you have a picture of your salamander and its setup?
I have heard that tiger salamanders can start to get small black dots as they age, but do not know whether this is the same for fire salamanders. How old is your salamander? how suddenly did the spots appear?
 
This thread is almost a year old.

Endemico, the spots were probably a fungus or bacteria. It's impossible to know without doing a culture.
 
I had bring my sals from a vet, he has told me that is not from bakteria or parasites.

This specimens has this spots from a few of days, and it's strange because I have always kept in high hygiene environment (paper towel, very clean like operating room) From the first day that I have I have keept isolated because is a subadult female, so is not old.
But she comes from a my friend outdoor breeding.
She is eating like if she is normal.
All the other specimens are without this spots.

So I think that is a virus, taht she have brought first to comes here in me.
like all animals too salamander can be sick from viruses and must only wait the work of the immune sistem.

I have attached an exemple of picture
 

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Yes Kaysie,
but as the vet. has told me that is in the skin and so is impossible to make a culture..and this is not due a bakteria or parasites....the only way is a istological exam...but the the only left can be a virus...I think...

Here you are an exemple of my terrarium where I'm always keeping she...
As you can see is a high hygiene terrarium.
 

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Nobody know about this?

For me should be a virus....
 
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