Caudate Illness Part 3: Illness Photographs

The photos below show specific symptoms or illnesses in newts, salamanders, and axolotls. For more information about illnesses and treatments, see Caudate Illnesses and Treatments. If you have a photo to contribute, please Contact us.

	Escape Following escape from a tank, it is common to never find the body. If found, they usually look like this. A lucky few are found soon enough to still be alive. To prevent escape, see Preventing Escape.
	Bloat Adult Ambystoma texanum with advanced bloat. For more information, see Bloat in Newts.
	Bloat Larval newt with advanced bloat. As can be seen here, bloat is the accumulation of fluid in the body cavity.
	Emaciation Cynops pyrrhogaster (Japanese firebelly newt) with advanced emaciation. The animal shown here died the following day.
	Constipation Axolotl with symptoms of constipation. Note odd posture and enlarged cloaca. The animal shown here made a full recovery after removal of gravel to prevent further ingestion.
	White skin patches Axolotl with white skin patches. The cause is unknown, but the owner believed it was not fungus, but a shedding problem or protozoan infection. The animal returned to normal after treatment with a tea bath (1 teabag/10 liters or 10 quarts water).
	Sore Tylototriton shanjing with an open sore on top of the head. These kinds of sores are common on newly-imported Tylototritons.
	Prolapse Axolotl with a prolapse of the cloaca.
	Abcess Taricha granulosa with an abcess of the parotoid gland.
	Tumor Cynops orientalis with a tumor. The newt lived for several years with a tumor on the underside of the mouth. It was examined by a vet and determined to be a hard growth. When photographed, the tumor had enlarged, probably due to infection.
	The shine Taricha granulosa with 'the shine'. Note that the skin is abnormally shiny, and despite the newt having a good weight, the spine and ribs are showing. This newt died a few days after the photo was taken.
	The shine Tylototriton shanjing with 'the shine' and partial emaciation. Compare the shiny skin of this animal to the granular texture of healthy T. shanjing. This sign of poor health is common in newly-imported Tylototritons. Animals often recover from this problem if kept cool and terrestrial and fed well.
	Fungus Neurergus strauchii with leg covered in fungus. The origin of the problem was not observed, but the leg probably suffered some injury prior to becoming infected.
	Attack by tankmate This axolotl was attacked by a tankmate, causing the limb to be shredded down to the bone. The limb was amputated, and the regenerating limb is shown in the lower panel.
	Anchorworm Anchorworm, a common parasite in goldfish and koi, can also infect axolotls. Treatment requires treating the axolotl with medications sold to treat koi and sterilizing the entire tank to prevent recurrence.
	Blood in eye This Taricha granulosa had apparent blood in the eyes. Both eyes were affected, and there had been no trauma or infection prior to this. The condition went away on its own. See forum thread.
	Gill infection Axolotl with infection of gills. See forum thread.
	Gill infection Axolotl with infection of gills. See forum thread.
	Blister Taricha granulosa with blister. When drained by a vet, no bacteria were found in the fluid. The newt recovered. See forum thread.

Related Articles

Caudate Illness Part 1 has additional information, resources and links about treating amphibian illnesses.
Caudate Illness Part 2 has accounts and anecdotes contributed by readers.