newt larvae injury

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shop worn angel

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I just posted a thread about the snail situation in my tank, because I was just about to move my larvae to the tank and want to make sure I can do this safely. In the few seconds it took to post that, one of my newt larva bit off another larva's tail. What do I do with the injured larva? Can it go into the tank with the rest of the larvae?

Please help!

Thanks!
 
Hi.

It is normal for newt larvae to attack each other like this. All newt larvae are opportunistic preditors and not averse to a little canabalism!

If you have the space I suggest keeping the injured larvae seperated from the others to prevent further attacks (the taste of blood from the wound may trigger fresh attacks from the other larvae).

With luck, clean water and a good supply of food the tail will not become infected and should heal/ regrow. Although if it survives this individual may always have a stumpy tail.

Regards

Jim
 
I doubt that "stumpy" will be attacked again, but it may be less stressed if it's kept by itself. As James said, if the tail doesn't get infected it will regrow. It will be a setback to this larva's growth though, so it may be more prone to problems later on.
 
I have some aquarium salt and Pimafix handy. Do you suggest I add some of this to the water to promote healing???
 
I had larvae that lost tails to siblings and/or parents. I never intervened by adding chemicals, etc, and the larvae did fine. I cannot even tell which animals lost tails now as none of the morphs have tail deformities. In my opinion I don't think you need to add anything.
Heather
 
Same here - I've never treated any larvae that lost tails, and they've always survived.
 
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