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drew
Guest
Earlier today I heard my wife yell from the bedroom, "Drew, is the newt supposed to be out?" I quickly ran in there, worried about what I might find. Sure enough, the female Cynops pyrrhogaster I've kept for the last ten years was sitting/laying on the floor at the foot of the bed motionless. I scooped her up (the newt, not my wife) and headed for the aquarium. She was alive, skin still slightly moist. When I released her back in the aquarium, she swam off into her favorite hiding spot, while I tried to figure out how she got out.
There's a small opening on the rear of the top glass that I usually keep covered with a plastic strip, but had left it off the last time I did a water change. And the rear wall of the tank has a polystyrene rock wall insert I suppose she must have climbed (although I've never seen her do that). I guess I didn't really think too much about it, since the newt has never tried to make a break for it in the last ten years in the various tanks/setups I've had her in. Heck, she very rarely even leaves the water, even though I always leave some "land" area exposed (rocks, wood, plants, etc.). Conditions in the tank have not changed any recently and she has been well supplied with bloodworms.
Anyway, I don't know how long she was out and about. She had to have fallen a good three feet from the tank to the floor, then traversed ten feet of carpeted floor, down a highly trafficked hallway to the bedroom. The whole family had been up for at least an hour, running up and down the hall. It's fortunate she wasn't crushed under foot.
I'm worried now whether she will be ok after all this. Did she sustain any injuries from the fall? Did she pick up anything harmful from the carpet? Then there's the stress, and the partial drying. She looks to be ok as I type this. She is moving around normally and even ate some worms. I don't see any scars, wounds, or other external signs of injuries.
Does anyone have any advice for determining whether she's ok? I will definitely make sure there's no risk of further escape. But now I wonder if there's anything in particular I can do at this point to ensure she will recover from the ordeal.
Thanks for any input.
There's a small opening on the rear of the top glass that I usually keep covered with a plastic strip, but had left it off the last time I did a water change. And the rear wall of the tank has a polystyrene rock wall insert I suppose she must have climbed (although I've never seen her do that). I guess I didn't really think too much about it, since the newt has never tried to make a break for it in the last ten years in the various tanks/setups I've had her in. Heck, she very rarely even leaves the water, even though I always leave some "land" area exposed (rocks, wood, plants, etc.). Conditions in the tank have not changed any recently and she has been well supplied with bloodworms.
Anyway, I don't know how long she was out and about. She had to have fallen a good three feet from the tank to the floor, then traversed ten feet of carpeted floor, down a highly trafficked hallway to the bedroom. The whole family had been up for at least an hour, running up and down the hall. It's fortunate she wasn't crushed under foot.
I'm worried now whether she will be ok after all this. Did she sustain any injuries from the fall? Did she pick up anything harmful from the carpet? Then there's the stress, and the partial drying. She looks to be ok as I type this. She is moving around normally and even ate some worms. I don't see any scars, wounds, or other external signs of injuries.
Does anyone have any advice for determining whether she's ok? I will definitely make sure there's no risk of further escape. But now I wonder if there's anything in particular I can do at this point to ensure she will recover from the ordeal.
Thanks for any input.