Blood-filled swelling

[Tim Johnson]

Yet another major turn for the worse here. What seemed to me yesterday to be some sort of cancerous growth....



...turned out to be fluid build-up. Today, it's almost doubled in size and I can see that it contains...blood!



I'm almost speechless. What more can I say besides...SOMEBODY, HELP!!

(wondering if this need be urgently punctured by a vet to save the newt from dying of internal bleeding...)

[Tim Johnson]

I've never seen or heard of anything like this one! I think it might help to open the blister, then it might stop spreading. The skin over the blister has no nerve endings, so it shouldn't hurt the critter. Then keep him ultra-clean, maybe apply topical as you did for other external injuries.

[Michael Shrom]

Hey guys,

I know i'm just a novice and have very little knowledge of caudate disease. That said, this swelling reminded me of an uncommon disease that had infected some of my Koi.

The disease was called Dermocystidium, and i here is the best overview of the disease i could find on the web. http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/dermocystidium.htm

I hope this comes as some help, I wish your newt the best of luck.

~Michael

[Tim Johnson]

Woke up this morning (afternoon actually...) expecting to see a balloon-sized swelling on this guy, but to my surprise, I found no swelling at all!





Last night, I put him in a temporary container with a rock to climb up on and to provide a gradient in case he opted to rub the blister open himself. Not only did he apparently open it himself (assuming it didn't pop open on its own, he shed what appears to be his entire skin.



I was sure this one was a goner, though Ed K. had said he'd seen newts survive worse. I've since dabbed the wound with diluted iodine and applied an antibiotic ointment. The newt seems pretty nonchalant about the whole episode.

Never seen this affliction before Jen? All I can say is that if the powers-that-be are not going to name a new Paramesotriton species after me, they could at least help preserve my legacy by naming a disease after me!

Thanks everybody!

Hi Tim,
You may not be out of the woods yet unless all of the dead tissue was sloughed off with the shed skin. The left over dead tissue can allow for an opportunistic fungal or bacterial infection to set in despite wiping it down with bacteriacidal products.
Also there is the possibility that there were other causes for the "growth" that are still present in the newt.
If there is an abscess in the body cavity, its possible that the abscess throws off small "clots" of infectious material which then lodge in the tissues and create other abscess (although these usually show up in the tail or other extremities). These abscesses can be caused by encysted parasites (usually a secondary infection around the cyst) or primary bacterial infections. Keep the newt isolated for at least 30 days and preferably 60 days post healing.
Some thoughts,
Ed