Bent / curled tail / lower back, difficulty moving

Hi all,

I haven't been on in ages. It's been good to catch up on a lot of reading here!

I thought I posted a question about this quite a while ago (6 mos- 1 yr?), when one of my female t.a.apuanas had the trouble, but can't seem to find that post. That newt died, but my male and second female have continued to be seemingly healthy. Now my other female is exhibiting the same symptoms:

Problem may initiate in the lower back (maybe just in front of the hind legs?), extending to the tail: - unusually bent to the side, with the tail also bent sideways upon itself (somewhat accordian style). She can move her hind legs, but to little avail. Attempts to swim are similarly hindered by shape she seems stuck in. Recently went off food. Also seems to have unusual bulges in the abdomen - though whether this is a cause of the trouble, or caused by the trouble I don't know.

Any thoughts?

From what I've read, it could possibly be Metabolic bone disease (MBD)or a nutrient deficiency (Usually fed a staple of worms with occasional frozen foods, but newts were left with a friend while I traveled, and apparently fed mostly waxworms - could be a nutrient deficiency causing that much of a disfigurement?) Alternately - would I see this in an egg-bound female? She was somewhat small / runty to start with and I wouldn't have expected her to be laying... they have been mostly aquatic for 8 months, but do have some land access. A few aquatic plants with thin gravel substrate, but no elodea or "preferred" egg-plants.

Thanks for any thoughts all.

Keegan

Hi Keegan, I have heard of these kinds of problems reported by several people in T. marmoratus - spine or tail bent, eventually stop eating. The bulges in the abdomen that you describe sound different though.

I had 2 marmoratus that were perfectly healthy, then both developed a lump (later confirmed to be a spinal curvature), stopped eating, and eventually died. Here is a photo of one of them:



I don't know what the most likely causes would be. But if you've had two of them with similar symptoms, I think MBD is a possibility. My marmoratus in the photo was fed mostly earthworms, which are supposed to be a good source of calcium, so I don't know what the deal is.

Thanks Jennifer,

Unfortunately she has died ... I'm down to a single, lovely, male T.a.a. Guess he'll get spoiled.

He seems healthy but I'm not taking chances... going to move him to an entirely new setup. For what it's worth, they were in a 15 gal tank with the backdrop and bit of land made using a method discussed on the forum some time ago (sorry... running out of time or I'd link it...) using "weldbond" and peatmoss over styrofoam, stuck to the back of the tank with black silicone. I don't think this would have led to the problems, but... well, it is time for a change anyway.

Good luck all!

Keegan