Possibly Sick Firebelly... Please Help?

L

lee

Guest
Hello everybody, I hope somebody may be able to help me.

I recently bought 4 firebellies from my local pet shop. At the time I never really noticed but about a week in I noticed one had a mark around its eye. I dont think its an infection because its quite translucent, more a skin blemish. But Iv noticed this is the only one who's not been eating. Iv recently isolated him (or her) after reading it could be stress related. Im feeling a little concerned about it not eating now as its significantly smaller and slightly less active than the others.

I dont want to start using salt baths or antibiotics on the off chance that it is fungal if I can be causing more harm than good.

Does anybody have any suggestions or ever experienced a similar condition before?

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Actually, salt baths are mostly used for treating fungal infections. Infections often involve more than one organism, and it's not usually possible to tell the cause by looking at it (fungal vs. bacterial vs. viral). This really looks bad, I think using either salt baths or antibiotics, though a shot in the dark, may be better than doing nothing.
 
Hello,
The best bet is to get it to a vet, who may be able to sample it and at least see what sort of pathogens are involved. Appropriate medication could then be given.
 
Thanks for your advice, Iv been using the salt bath and it seems to have cleared the blemish up nicely. The local vets dont really deal with amphibians, but have suggested an antibiotic bath, similarly to that used for treating fish.

Im still really concerned that its not eating though, it just seems to sit under the plants in its tank and not move at all... The lady at a local reptile store said that it may be a little too late to solve that problem, sadly.
 
Glad to hear the salt bath cleared it up.

I resolved a problem like that, involving a newly acquired C. orientalis, with an antibiotic bath.

What are you trying to feed it on land? If it won't eat on land, you might try keeping it aquatic in shallow water, with places to crawl up on, and provide it some high quality bloodworm or something equally appealing...
 
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