Newt wound

CatSpit · Mar 11, 2015

Not sure how she got it, but one of my fire bellied newts has a bit of a "hole" in her side, just in front of her left back leg. It hasn't changed much over the last few days. I am wondering if this is something that might heal on its own or if I need to be treating it somehow. The newt is still active and eating well, doesn't seem to be disturbed by it at all. I took some pictures, but they are not great...

Thanks for any feedback.

Chinadog · Mar 11, 2015

Its hard to tell from the tiny pictures, Can you re size them? It does look like a skin sore to me though, without knowing the circumstances its hard to guess the cause, but they are especially common on stressed Chinese firebellies. You really need to isolate it straight away, especially if its still sharing a tank with the Japanese fire belly. These kinds of sores always seem contagious between animals of the same species let alone ones from different parts of the world.
Here is a link from when I treated a baby firebelly with skin sores, the type that are common on the Chinese species look slightly different to me, but without antibiotics from a vet I would try the same treatment.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...lp/94263-c-pyrrhogaster-illness-sickness.html

CatSpit · Mar 11, 2015

Thanks for the response and the link Chinadog. So even though she is totally aquatic it is ok to quarantine her on moist paper towels? I am quite sure I can get NeoSporin - how did you apply it...with a Q tip or something like that? I will get her out of the tank asap.

Edit - oh and i'm happy to see that your newt responded so well to your treatments!

Chinadog · Mar 11, 2015

Yes, its the only way of getting the neosporin to stick for any length of time. If you decide to use salt baths as well I think it would be wise to let the newt spend time in fresh water afterwards to prevent dehydration.
I was very lucky with the one I treated, it was captive bred and used to being hand fed and continued to eat throughout the treatment, sores are hit and miss to treat at best as they are often a sign of stress suppressing the newts immune system, but it's always worth a try.

CatSpit · Mar 11, 2015

Ok, and she does readily accept worms from me, so hopefully keeping her fed won't be a problem. She's a feisty one so here's hoping that she'll kick this...

Thanks again for the help.

CatSpit · Mar 11, 2015

Here are some better pictures as she is out of the water, looks way worse than it did IN the water...

Asevernnnn · Mar 11, 2015

How are you housing it? Like what else is in the tank if anything, water quality, etc.
I agree with Chinadog that you should keep it in a mostly bare setup with maybe a hide with maybe a moist papertowel substrate to avoid it from rubbing off easily on decor.

CatSpit · Mar 11, 2015

She's in a 45 gallon planted tank, I had a recent nitrite spike that I am dealing with by doing two water changes a day, so it is consistently close to zero or at zero. Ammonia 0, pH between 6.8 and 7.0, and Nitrates ~5ppm. I have two other small Chinese fire belly newts that are doing well, and my old Japanese fire belly newt.

I currently have her in a small quarantine tank with moist paper towels and some bits of plant to hide in. I have started with the antibiotic ointment (without the pain killer).

Chinadog, can you let me know how often you applied the ointment? Thanks.

Asevernnnn · Mar 11, 2015

I wouldn't keep species together, even if there haven't been problems in the past, lots of horror stories start with "they lived together fine until..." I honestly don't see the point of risking it, you could easily setup a separate enclosure for the separate specie, they aren't even considered to be in the same genus anymore, the Japanese newts remaining in Cynops, and the Chinese newts into Hypselotriton

Chinadog · Mar 12, 2015

Chinadog, can you let me know how often you applied the ointment? Thanks.[/QUOTE]

Yes, twice a day for the neosporin and twice a day for salt baths.

CatSpit · Apr 8, 2015

My wee newt looks like she is slowly healing, thanks to the herp vet and her daily routine of having the wound cleaned with a weak solution of iodine and getting a drop of Baytril on her back! She was off her food, but is now pretty hungry for worms, so fingers crossed she will recover :happy:

CatSpit · Apr 17, 2015

Wow, she is healing up fast now!! :happy:

CatSpit · Apr 26, 2015

Just a final update that the newt has healed up completely and is out of quarantine and back in the aquarium where she is happily swimming around

CatSpit · Jul 14, 2015

C. orientalis just hanging out

Some of you might recall that i posted about my 'wounded newt' months ago, she's doing really well and is pictured here 'sitting' on a branch :happy:

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