Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone-
One of my tiger salamanders is beginning to act funny. I noticed that starting about 2 days ago, he was walking kind of funny with his tail bent to the side and up. He seemed uncomfortable and looked as if he couldn't settle down. This morning, I watched him again suspecting something was wrong because he wasn't in his usual hiding spot. When i reached down and touched him, he sort of jerked and continued with that unstable crooked walk with his tail awkwardly bent. I noticed that he was shedding a little but it was in pieces and not as a whole like usual. I also noticed he has a little puffiness in his back right leg. I'm getting paranoid and I don't know what to do. Could it be that this is just a difficult shed for him or is this a sign of something else? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Because of the delicate nature of amphibian skin, I have little I can tell you as far as a quick fix. I've never encountered this before in amphibians, but in reptiles, a bad shed is usually the result of low humidity. Even in the desert, there is morning dew on a daily basis. My first instinct would be to soak the salamnder in clean neautral water for a while to see if that makes it go better. If that cures the problem, try increasing the humidity in the tank? Also, you say you have multiple tigers in that tank...do you think they could be battle wounds? Most salamnders are solitary creatures except during mating season...

Thanks for the response =)

I only have one other salamander with him and they're brothers. They've always gotten along and I don't think that they would fight. It's been a few days now and I'm not quite sure what is going on. I did buy some of the aloe spray for amphibians to help ease the shedding if that was the problem. I can't tell if it has helped. I do notice, however, that he is more sensitive. Usually, I can reach in and touch his head and he'll respond because he knows he's about to get a worm, but lately he's been jerking his head when I touch it as if he's snapping at something. He also used to respond to my movement near the tank, but doesn't do that as much lately. Maybe his eyesight is getting bad and he's scared? I'm just thinking of all sorts of things that could be wrong. I'm also still worried about the puffiness in his back leg. It just isn't symmetrical with the other and because his mobility seems to be a bit more unstable that usual, I thought that was a problem. He is putting weight on that leg though. I just don't think I'm going to feel 100% until I take him to a vet...Everything has been perfect and now that one little thing is off, I'm freaking out. He's very young too. It has only been a year and a few months since he morphed.

What are you using as a substrate?

Ed