Floating Pleurodeles Waltl

M

miriam

Guest
One of my Pleurodeles Waltl males is floating for the past few days. He doesn't seem to be swollen or suffering anything noticable from the outside, no wounds or whatever. He is just have troubles submurging and staying down. The waterconditions are all ok, I have another male and female waltl in the same tank and there is nothing wrong with those two. He is also active and still willing to eat and there are times that he succeeds in submurging and staying down, but it's only a few minutes before he starts floating again.
 
I've seen this happen to a newt for a few hours, but not for so long. It will probably get better on its own. Feed normally. For the animal's comfort, try to provide lots of floating plants or a submerged island for it to sit on.
 
What could have caused the animal to float? It is still floating, I've already provided it with plenty of Eloidea and floating wood. He does seem to be stressed more than the usual, but he is not overstressed, he is calmy floating and from time to time he gulps lots of air making it possible for him to go under and stay under for a few minutes the last few days.
 
Hmmm... maybe he has some trapped gas? either from the digestion process or air that is swallowed in to the stomach. If he is otherwise healthy and still has an appetite I would think it will pass with time. The stress may be due to him being near the surface which is an unnatural place for him to be during the daytime.
 
He is still floating, still coming down from time to time, but he is losing weight now. I've tried putting him in a tank with shallow water but it's only stressing him more and he refuses to eat when he is in it. What can I do to make him eat well?
 
Has he eaten regularly since he started floating? I would suggest hand-feeding with pieces of earthworm (in whichever tank he is willing to eat). Be sure the shallow tank has plenty of hiding places, that might make it less stressful. At this point, I think this must be more than just transient gas. Is it possible that it swallowed a piece of gravel/rock?
 
I've tried handfreeding, he does not take pieces of earthworm, he does take frozen bloodworms from time to time and I've seen him eat yesterday when he was on the ground. It is possible that he swallowed a piece of gravel, if it is what can I do?
 
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