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Post by Killian on Oct 13, 2005 12:32:39 GMT
I found my male fire salamander with a hole under his chin, I thought at the time maybe a bird pecked him and spat him out but then I was thinking any damage to him would be from above or at least some damage turning him over. I brought him in and force fed him some slugs but he died after a few days.
Could this have been a disease?
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Post by adamanuran on Oct 14, 2005 9:17:39 GMT
It soundsa as though he could have had some type of necrosis or a myasis infection.
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Post by Pollywog on Oct 15, 2005 11:16:12 GMT
Necrosis is caused by a lack of blood to the affected tissue, if this is the case then the Salamander must have already been damaged in that area.
Myasis is possible but again only if the affected area was already damaged and I would expect to see visible signs of maggots if this was the case.
What are the temperatures like over in your part of the world at the moment? When was the last time you cleaned their enclosure?
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Post by Killian on Oct 15, 2005 15:38:27 GMT
It was average temp it hasnt been very cold or warm, their enclosure is under a huge fir tree so it is very sheltered anyway. I noticed he hadnt been around the enclosure when i checked them at night time so I opened the hibernacula where i found him.
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Post by Pollywog on Oct 15, 2005 15:54:19 GMT
When was the last time you cleaned out the enclosure, and specificaly the hibernicula?
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Post by Killian on Oct 15, 2005 21:43:45 GMT
It is impossible to clean the outdoor vivarium, I cannot see how this would be a problem though as the enclosure is much larger than a typical tank.
Does anybody clean their outdoor vivaria?
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Post by Pollywog on Oct 16, 2005 10:16:44 GMT
You should still spot check the enclosure and it is a good idea to give it a wash down every now and then.
They are still in a confined area, even if it is slightly larger than a normal vivarium, how big is this enclosure?
What do you have in the bottom of their hibernicula?
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Post by adamanuran on Oct 16, 2005 11:53:59 GMT
My sources are not too accurate, but some species of fir tree can release some biochemicals such as diterpenes and free phenols which in small doses are fine but with the bio accumulation of needles over time, these chemicals could reach toxic levels. Especially with cyperus trees etc.
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Post by willj on Oct 16, 2005 19:43:59 GMT
my vivarium will be placed with part of in shade of a yew tree, will i need to worry about the chemicals at all?
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Post by adamanuran on Oct 16, 2005 20:30:55 GMT
YES!!!!! Yew is notoriously poisonous!
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Post by willj on Oct 17, 2005 6:54:53 GMT
okay so much for that site then...  |
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