Please help! My Japanese FBN has a problem. <IMG SRC="http://www.caudata.org/forum/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":-(" BORDER=0>

I have recently bought some newts as pets, I live in Japan and I have fire bellied newts, three of them. Two of which seem to be quite happy in their environment. They eat regularly, they seem comfortable with one another, but I have a problem with my third newt. He isn't growing and he isn't active like the others. I've also come to notice that he has a rather large bump on the end of his tail. I'm rather concerned and I'm not sure what to do about him. Currently I have him separated from the others as I am afraid this may be a parasite or some kind of unhealthy growth. I have pictures of this bump if you would like to see it. Also, I can't really return him anywhere since I bought him from a Japanese Festival, and the store that sold him to me is usually located in Shibuya. I live in Shinjuku, the distance is actually pretty far, but if I have to go I will.. I really am afraid though that they just will flush him down a toilet or something. Do you have any suggestions on what I should do? Is it okay to put him back with his other newt friends?


P.S. Right now I have him a tupperware, just in case whatever he has in contagious. If I can do something about it and I need to keep him separated, I'll get him something nicer asap.







(Message edited by jennewt on September 13, 2005)

Is the newt eating? Is the lump getting bigger with time, or staying the same?

It does not look serious, but I could be wrong. It would not be difficult to cut off the end of the tail and let it grow back, but you probably want help from a veterinarian for that.

I just had a newt with a very similar abscess. The vet lanced it, and it was full of hard pus. However, he said it probably would not have harmed her had he left it be. But since she was there, getting a different abscess drained, he did that one too.

Hi Usami.

Well, it probably wouldn't do the newt much good for you to take it back to the shop that sold it

If you can afford to pay just a few thousand yen, you could take it to the Denenchofu Animal Hospital (Tel.03-5483-7676), which is open 9:00�`13:00 and 16:00�`20:00 every day except Thursday. The vet there, Dr, Tamukai, is a competent amphibian specialist.

But if you consider Shibuya to be far away from Shinjuku -- it's only 10 minutes by local train -- then you might find it inconvenient to get to Denenchofu, which is another 10 minutes or so away by train, plus a 15-minute walk from the station to the vet. But I'm sure you could manage it for the sake of your newt!

Here is the access map:

http://www5f.biglobe.ne.jp/~dec-ah/

I wouldn't recommend that you amputate without first reading up on how to do so safely, and how to care for it afterward. At least consult by phone with the vet

Thank you so much! Everyone thank you! I think I will call Denenchofu and consult Dr. Tamukai! Shibuya isn't too far away, I just know if I tell my boyfriend that I want to take Duke to a vet even farther than Shinjuku and pay probably around yonsen-gosen en, he'll say something along the lines of "‚«‚Ý‚Ì“ñ•S‰~‚̃Cƒ‚ƒŠ�H�I‚¤‚³‚Ý‚¿‚á‚ñ‚Ù‚ñ‚Æ‚É�H�I‚ ‚½‚炵‚¢ƒCƒ‚ƒŠ‚ð‚©‚Á‚Ä‚æ�I�hHaha.. Japanese men are so practical about everything.. But if I need to sneak Duke out! I will.. I already have Duke and the others SECRETLY hehehe.. my apartments don't allow pets.. But they don't have to know that!

I will call tomorrow!
Thank you again!

ƒEƒTƒ~

Hello Usami I had to laugh when i switched my text encoding in order to read in japanese!

Is it true that you are not allowed to keep small animals in your apartment? What about simple things like goldfish or kuwagata? I am sure something like a nokogiri-kuwagata or kabutomushi is something small?

It's distressing to see Japanese FBNs still being sold here in Japan at festivals, fairs and pet shops for only 200 yen, or the price of a large Coke at McDonalds. I've even seen them for as low as 150 yen at pet shops. And then there are the idiots who capture hundreds of them at a time and sell them in bulk on auction sites for ridiculously low prices. Being as cheap as goldfish, they tend to be bought by people who otherwise wouldn't consider buying them, people who have no clue how to care for them and consider the monetary value of the animal to constitute its actual "worth". In fact, I see on an auction site here that 100 are currently being sold for 5,200 yen ($47) by somebody who is separately selling dozens more. That's 52 yen (47 cents) per newt! It's no wonder they're disappearing from the wild across Japan. Anyway, that's my rant

Usami, don't let your boyfriend convince you that it's "cheaper" to replace a sick pet with healthy new one as that's a pretty "cheap" line of thinking -- common as it may be.