Illness/Sickness: Sick blue tailed need help please!!!

Hey guys,
I made a post a while ago I noticed my newts were itching and twitching strangely. I couldn't figure out what it was and no one had an answer on here. My favorite newt cinder that I've had for a few years now was itching the most, he now hasn't eaten the past two meals and looks extremely bloated. He's lethargic, just laying at the top and his eyes don't look the same (kind of that look of a dead frog you might find in a pool.). I don't think it's anything in the water, I keep up with water changes and I'm using RO water remineralized. Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5. The tank has 5 other newts which have also been itching but they appear healthy still and are eating fine. I feed them mostly chopped up Canadian night crawler and the occasional bloodworms. They have live plants in their tank as well as cherry shrimp. I thought cinder may be gravid but last time I had him sexed on this site everyone said he was male. I've put cinder in a temporary tank see attached. Is there anything I should add? What should I do? I've never dealt with anything like this before. Cinder is my favorite newt, I've become very attached to him and would like to do whatever is best for him.
Thanks -Heidi



Also found this on one newts foot (different newt) what is it?


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Attached to the newt's foot, my friend, is a fertilized newt egg.

At least, that's what it looks like to me.

What!! No way that's terrific!!!! What should I do with it? I found a couple just got done cleaning their tank ?!


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Could it be that cinder has been eating eggs? Perhaps that's why he hasn't been eating any worms? Do cyanurus usually do that?


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Autumncrossing said:

Could it be that cinder has been eating eggs? Perhaps that's why he hasn't been eating any worms? Do cyanurus usually do that?


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Could be, my female pyrrhogaster seem to eat far less of their meals when they're egg laying, but they definitely do eat plenty of eggs though. I suppose egg season is a natural time of plenty for them, why would they go hunting for pray when there are thousands of eggs there for the taking!
It's worrying that you say her eyes look different though, I lost a sub-adult T. verrucosus with very similar symptoms to the ones you describe. It was slightly bloated, floating at the surfae and had eyes that looked weird like you say, a bit like dead frogs eyes. It died very quickly though, only 24hrs after developing the symptoms. I haven't had any health issues with any of the other T. verrucosus before or since, so I put it down to it's internal organs failing to develop properly, but I'm really hoping it isn't the start of something nasty, now...

Chinadog said:

Could be, my female pyrrhogaster seem to eat far less of their meals when they're egg laying, but they definitely do eat plenty of eggs though. I suppose egg season is a natural time of plenty for them, why would they go hunting for pray when there are thousands of eggs there for the taking!

It's worrying that you say her eyes look different though, I lost a sub-adult T. verrucosus with very similar symptoms to the ones you describe. It was slightly bloated, floating at the surfae and had eyes that looked weird like you say, a bit like dead frogs eyes. It died very quickly though, only 24hrs after developing the symptoms. I haven't had any health issues with any of the other T. verrucosus before or since, so I put it down to it's internal organs failing to develop properly, but I'm really hoping it isn't the start of something nasty, now...

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Thank you for the information. I hope it's not what yours had. Is my quarantine set up okay? It's bare bottom with water, two rocks and a plant. Or should I do a dry quarantine with moist paper towels? Really don't want to lose this guy ?.


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Most people seem to use the simple terrestrial set up for sick animals, but for an aquatic newt I can't see any reason not to use a simple aquatic tank.

Chinadog said:

Most people seem to use the simple terrestrial set up for sick animals, but for an aquatic newt I can't see any reason not to use a simple aquatic tank.

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Okay thank you. He does seem to be able to swim around just fine. I guess if he weakens I'll take out the water.


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Can newts get ich? My betta fish in a different tank looks like he might have it. I sometimes use the same cup for feeding.


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Cinders looking a little better this morning, bloat seems to have gone down slightly as now he's swimming around on the bottom. Eyes still look a little off to me though.


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I have sad news this morning, cinder passed away last night. I couldn't bare to do an autopsy... He was my favorite newt. I'm afraid now for the others, they are showing the same strange itching behavior.. I don't know what to do...


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I think I'd take them to a herp friendly vet if I were you. I think trying to guess what's wrong is wasting time at this point, a vet should be able to diagnose the problem and give you the proper meds pretty quickly, hopefully quick enough to save the ones you have left.

There is no vet I can take them to. There is only one even remotely close to me, I brought in a sick lizard once all they did was look at it and charge me $250.


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Without a proper diagnosis you're just shooting in the dark, but if there's no vet that's all you can do.
Something is apparently irritating their skin, so if pushed, My guess would be either something in the water irritating their skin, or maybe some kind of parasite or fungal problem.
Either way, I would move them to a terrestrial set up with damp paper towels and a couple of hides and see what happens as their skin dries out. If things improve you've at least got something to go on? Do you add any kind of plant fertilisers?

Thank you for the suggestion, how long do you think I should leave them in a terrestrial set up? Also then how do you suggest I disinfect the tank while they are removed? Should I trash everything and completely re cycle?


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My betta fish has what appears to be velvet which can be transmitted to newts. It would certainly explain the crazed scratching. Could this explain the itching? Is it safe to treat the water with copper sulfate while the newts are in a terrestrial set up just in case? Then do a major water change to remove the medication before I place them back in their tank?


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I wouldn't treat the tank with anything at this stage, I've no idea what fish remedies are safe for amphibians. If the newts improve while they're terrestrial I would tear down the tank completely and sterilise the whole lot rather than using chemical treatments. It will have to cycle again if that's what you do, but you can keep the newts on land while that's going on.

Thank you for taking the time to help me Chinadog! It is certainly worth a shot. Would a week on land be enough you think? Strangely enough my cynops orientalis don't seem to be affected at all throughout this despite shared equipment in the past. I've got new tubing and cleaning tools to keep them separated now, not taking that chance!


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I don't know how long, just see if the scratching stops once their skins dry out I guess. It won't harm them to spend a while on land, people tend to keep Cynops/Hypselotriton in water all year round, but they are equally at home on land for part of the year. If they do improve, you'll want them to stay on land while you tear down and re-cycle their tank, anyway.

Okay great, how would you recommend sanitizing the tank? Would a vinegar solution be safe?


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