Found Escapee Pachytriton

Before going to bed tonight I checked on my paddletails, and did not find one in her tank. After frantically searching for about 1/2 hr I did find her alive, but she looks to be in rough shape. She was covered in dust and grime, and her eyes appear very sunken (dehydration?) And her nice paddle tail is now kinked all around the edges instead if smooth like it normally is. Her skin is also wrinkled, but I also contribute this to her being severely dehydrated. She will squirm and wriggle when handled now, but when left alone appears lifeless. I have not put her back in her own tank (I did find and fix the escape route - the electrical tape used to plug the hole for my filters cord had become loose, so I patched it up again) so right now I just have her in a large fish bowl - covered - with the clean aged water I keep on hand, just deep enough to completely submerge her but shallow enough she can just lift her head to gulp air. If she makes it through the night, and I am oh so praying that she does, what else can I do for her? I work for a vet clinic, not exotic just small animal, so I have access to drugs and the like and I know my docs would be understanding and let me get some. We have on stock lactated ringers, normasol, and sodium chloride fluids if any of these would help her. We also have baytril, among many other antibiotics that I could bring home.
Please, if any of you have any ideas or advice for her recovery/rehabilitation it is much appreciated. It is silly how attached you can get to a little slimy thing that only ever pays attention to you when you have a worm in your hand, but I will be devestated, not to mention angry at myself for not noticing this escape hole earlier, if she does not pull through. And a reminder to everyone - MAKE SURE YOUR TANK IS ESCAPE PROOF!! I took for granted that mine was and now my newt may pay the consequenses for my stupidity...

i had one escape years ago and found it in a similar condition to yours and he's still around today so hopefully yours will make a full recovery. They don't normally try to leave water so there may be a reason for this ie bullying so keep a watch when you put her back in..

So far so good - she is still alive and seems to be making progress.
Ian, she is the sole inhabitant of her tank and water chemistry is the same (however, I often question my water chem kit and need to purchase a new one). The only difference about the tank is that about 3 weeks ago I added a piece of driftwood. She spends a lot of time around and under it, but I have noticed the past ~10 days she has been spending some time on top of her filter and rock piles, which break the surface of the water. So something must be up that she doesnt like in there. But thank you for responding, and I am very glad to hear that yours made a recovery. I am not feeling so bad at the moment for how plump I have let her get in the last couple years - glad she has some extra weight as I don't know if she will be up to eating for a while.
Heather

glad to hear she's still okay. If i'm not mistaken some types of wood can "i think" soften the water i tend to soak mine for weeks before using it and if thats all thats changed then maybe the wood has something to do with it.

Keep us updated; I was thinking about your escapee while I was at work yesterday.

my paddletail escaped 2 weeks ago

i found him crawling beside my computer, covered in dust and some unknown white stuff

i put him back in his tank and now he is back to normal

these creatures really can squeeze thorough much smaller places than you would think

hope your paddletail does well

Thanks for all your concern, guys. She is doing well, and last night I put her back in her tank as she seemed more stressed in the bare fish bowl. She looks almost back to normal as well, except she still seems to be shedding. I try to gentley rub off the excess skin, but she doesn't seem to like this. I am really hoping, and am more optimistic as time goes on, that she will have no long lasting problems from her adventure on the floor.
Heather

It's been a week since you updated. Is she still doing well?

Yes, she seems to be and thanks for the concern. She has been hiding more than normal, and I offered her worm chunks this morning which she so far has not been interested in. I was worried for a few days because she had developed a white sore on her tail, and I was closing watching it for signs of "fuzziness," but fungus never seemed to appear, and the sore is now more closely looking like the rest of her skin pigment. I do hope she will completely recover from this and return to her old, friendly and food begging self - she used to always come to the front of the tank when she noticed me but lately she just likes to hide in her rock piles. But her appearance looks more normal and she is not wanting to spend time resting near the surface like she was the first few days after the escape. I also think she has stopped her frequent shedding, as she seemed to be sloughing her skin every day for the first few days after I found her. I do feel overall that she is on the mend.
On a more sad note, I think one of my pyrrho's has developed bloat and I need to make an appointment with the local herp vet to see if I can get a diagnoses - I want to know if it may be bacterial, renal, or what, and if its former tank mates (I have removed the sick newt to a quarantine tank) are at risk, though they all ate this morning and have continued to behave normally. The sick one seemed "off" for the past week or so, not exploring the tank much, not hunting blackworms, and last night its throat/chin area seemed swollen. I was wondering if maybe it was developing an oral tumor, but this morning the whole body looked bloated, and it seems to not be able to completely close its mouth. Thats when I decided to move it to its own tank. I sure hope my recent string of caudate bad luck will end soon.
Heather