Tail rot

Hi there ~~

I'm hoping someone might have some advice on how to treat a Rough Skinned Newt (Taricha) that has developed what looks like some kind of fungus on the end of her tail.

She (I'm pretty sure its a she) was being housed in a 28 gallon vivarium with 4 others. About a week ago, I noticed that she was hiding in the terrestrial portion of the tank a lot more than normal. When I found her, I saw that the very tip of her tail looked "rotten" and she was curling it up protectively.

I have moved her out of the vivarium, which is extremely moist with "waterfalls" trickling through the moss... and placed her in quarantine in a 5 gallon tank. I've given her a drier environment of loose spagnum moss and a small pool of water she can get into if she needs it.

Does anyone know what this "rot" might be or how to successfully treat it?

Would appreciate any help...

Hi Deborah,

Sorry to hear that your Taricha granulosa is under the weather. Have you read these two articles?

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/sores.shtml

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/salt.shtml

If you can post a photo of the tail, that would be helpful. You did the right thing by putting the sick guy in quarantine.

There are a number of antiseptics/antibiotics you can use on the tail, but use as little as possible and don't get it all over the enclosure. Dilute hydrogen peroxide (rinse off right away), Neosporin (w/o pain killer), Bactine spray. It might be helpful to amputate the affected part of the tail (it grows back), but I cannot advise doing this w/o a veterinarian.

By the way, if anyone is interested, I just read about Bactine being reasonably safe for amphibians:
http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/research/amph_dc/sop_restraint.html

Thanks for the advice. I had actually read the article referencing dirt quarantine but hadn't seen the other one. I prefer a "natural" remedy if possible, as I hate to take a chance on medications...

The newt appears to have improved since he went into quarantine. He ate a cricket this morning - which is great, because he was turning his nose up at everything I offered him in the big tank. Although most of the quarantine is dry spagnum moss, the newt still perfers soaking in his water dish. I'm hoping he can "sense" what is best for his own body, so I am just monitoring him for now.

I don't have a digital camera so unfortunately I can't post any pics - but it is just the very tip of his tail - no more than 2 millimeters. When I first noticed it, it appeared "rotten" - paler in color than surrounding tissue. When I moved him, it actually fell off and it appears a tiny bit of bone went with it.

Its obviously hurting him, but I am going to monitor him now that he is in quarrantine and see how he does. If it spreads, I will have to take further steps.

I'm not sure what caused this condition. I keep their vivarium clean; I have a giant external filtration system which pulls water from the "pool," removes it from the tank, filters it, then replaces the water through 8 tiny waterfalls which I built into the background of the tank. I don't do a lot of filtration of the gravel (which is very course but polished, not rough) because I've heard its more beneficial to allow the gravel to develop a biological eco-system...

I did recently give the newts some ghost shrimp which they seemed to enjoy... I am wondering if maybe one of the feeder shrimp had some kind of virus?

Anyway, thanks for the help and I will continue to keep you updated on his condition.

Deb

Update on my Rough Skinned Newt...

She seems to be doing well in the isolation chamber. She has moved out of the water and burrowed into the dry moss. I have only caught a couple glimpses of her over the last two days, and unfortunatly I haven't had a good look at her tail.

I don't want to stress her by digging her out to get a better look... but eventually I'm going to have to check on her tail.

She seems to be eating, as the crickets have been disapearing.

Thanks everyone for the info on medicines to use. I hope I don't have to use them, but if I do, I appreciate the advice on which ones to choose.

(Message edited by farvoyager on November 14, 2004)

Another update, in case anyone is interested...

I am wondering if my newt has gone into hibernation. I finally dug into the moss and found her. She was curled up in the dry part of it near the substrate, which is slightly damp. Her eyes are closed.

I gently picked her up and examined her - and it appears her tail is healing. The "rotten" look is gone and although the tip is missing, it doesn't look like the rot is spreading.

I placed her back into her moss "cocoon" and left her for now. She has some crickets to eat if she needs to, and some small red worms which are burrowed in the substrate.

So far nature seems to be working, and I will continue to monitor her progress as non-obtrusively as possible.

Deborah, I'd personally take the crickets out. Crickets are vicious little predatory insects who might take advantage of the disabled state of your newt.

Good suggestion... I hadn't noticed any problems with them, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.