In desperate need of good advice.

Hello. I have a Pachytriton labiatus (paddle tail newt). I've had her for over 12 years now. She is the first and only newt I've ever owned. Normally, she is a voracious feeder and a rather plump newt. She gets fed earthworms, bloodworms, daphnia, guppies, newt bites (rarely) and tubifex. Lately however, she has lost a lot of weight and refuses any and all of the myriad foods she used to love. She runs from my earthworms. She sits up on the highest plants and "gulps" water while she fans the tip of her tail. I've noticed that while she does this, little white wisps of something slowly drift out of her cloaca. She lives alone (except for guppies) in a 40 gallon breeder tank with large river stones for substrate. Like I said before, she's the only newt I've ever had and I'd be very sad if she died. So, why won't she eat? What's that drifting out of her cloaca? Why does she gulp water? Thank you for reading this and I greatly appreciate any information you can give.

12 years is a long time. Do you know how old your newt was when you got it? Sad to say, but she could be nearing the end of her lifespan. I've read 10+ years in captivity for this species is not unheard of; whether a more definitive expected lifespan for captive individuals has been established is something I am not aware of.

Being a Pachytriton, it is wild-caught for sure. That means that it could be 15 or it could be 20...there´s no way of knowing.
It´s certainly possible that the animal is reaching the end of its life. They tend to stop eating when it happens.
Alternatively it may be that something is wrong with the husbandry.

The particles coming out of the cloaca intrigue me. That´s certainly not normal. It´s either feces or parasites(?).
Gulping air is fairly normal unless it´s too frequent, which would perhaps point out to bad water quality.
Have you checked everything husbandry wise is ok?

She was an adult when I bought her all those years ago. I know that my newt is "antique." Her behavior changed so quickly that I have to wonder. If she's old and dies from being old, I am fine with that. Sad, but fine. The combination of strange behaviors is really the only thing that is giving me hope. Hope that it is just something wrong that I haven't found or don't know about. If I can fix whatever it is, I want to try to.

As far as the tank conditions, everything is great. She is the only thing in the 40 gallon tank other than about a dozen guppies. I thought she ate one about a week ago, but I'm not sure how many there were to begin with. She just looked a little plumper. The white wisps coming from her cloaca seem to be related to her gulping in water…if that's what she's doing. The guppies tend to eat this wispy material immediately. She also fans her tail as she does this. I feel like there is an answer to this. Maybe I just want there to be one… Thank you very much for your timely responses.

The white wisps sound like some type of parasite to me, especially if the guppies are eating it as soon as it comes out.

Any idea what parasitic species would fit this description? What is the best way of diagnosing and treating this problem? I really appreciate your help, everyone.

No idea about the species of parasite it could be, but a good way to test for intestinal parasites is checking a stool sample (or even better, get a vet to do it).

I've been watching her today and have yet to see the wisps. She still fans her tail at the regular intervals, though. I've moved her into a quarantine tank. After she calms down a bit from the move, I thought about trying to get her to eat something. I was going to start with her favorite meal of earthworm, and then go down the list of foods until I find something she wants. If she makes a stool, the smaller tank will make it easier to spot and the lack of guppies will make it retrievable.

Any suggestions as to how to entice her to eat? Also, if she turns down one type of food, how long should I wait before trying another? If she does make some stool, what exactly should I be looking for? Any and all advice has been, and will continue to be greatly appreciated.

Just wait a few hours before offering something new. If you insist too much it will only cause stress.
The feces should be analized by a vet if you´ve never done it before. It requires a microscope or a powerful magnifying glass and some skill to know what to look for.

Now that she is in the hospital tank, I have been able to make some better observations. The gulping is related to what is coming out of her cloaca. She gulps, the wisp gets longer, she fans it with her tail, she waits 5 seconds, and repeats. The white wisps aren't the small particles I thought they were. It almost looks like she's trying to excrete an earthworm that didn't digest for some reason. The wisp is long, translucent, and kinda lumpy. The lumps seem to be surrounding tiny bits of what look to be topsoil. At this point, I'm hoping she just ate an earthworm that had a blockage, and now she is forced to unblock herself.

On another note, I bought her because I saw her in a pet store nearly starved to death. When I bought her, her tail was nearly transparent due to thinness. Now that she's in the hospital tank and I can really see her from above, I'm noticing that she isn't nearly as skinny as I thought she was. Her tail doesn't have the girth that it used to, but it is far from its original state. Could she be digesting what she can and pushing out what she can't digest? That would explain how she's a little plumper than I thought… or I just didn't get as good of a look as I thought I did…

So, she doesn't seem distressed at all like she was in her big tank. She is making wispy dirt constantly… there is always more when I check on her, and she doesn't stop when I'm watching. She still doesn't want to eat, but if I'm right, that's a good thing…? Again, thank you all very much for your advice, concern, and caring. It is greatly appreciated.

Any way you can take close-up, detailed pictures and upload them? You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

I've never been able to take good pictures of inside an aqaurium. This is a picture of some of the white wisp worm looking thing. My wife has a better camera and I will try to take a better picture as soon as possible. Thank you for your concern, advice, and time.

I would like to thank everyone that offered advice during our time of need. Unfortunately, my newt has died. I take comfort in knowing that she led a very long life in a big aquarium. Once again, all of your help really means a lot to me and I thank you.

I´m so sorry...but as you say, it´s been a long comfortable life. 12 years is an achievement, god knows how old she was when you got her.
I can barely make out the picture, i don´t think i can make a guess about what it might have been, sorry.