The shine

So what exacly is "the shine" I saw it on one the illness sheets on Caudata culture, but all it had was a picture of a newt with "the shine" and said that it had good weight, but the spine and ribs were showing and died a few days after the picture was taken. I have looked further on the website but could not find an explantation of what causes it, what it really is, or how to treat it.

I have a male crested newt who, despite water perameters being good, has taken to land, and appears to have a bit of a sheen to him. I realize he could just be taking to land for the summer, as he did the same last year, but I just want to be sure. His weight looks good, and I do not see ribs or a backbone at this point, and he is still feeding. Not as well as he did in water, but he still takes a few bits of chopped up worms during feeding time. I will post some pics when I get a chance.

Even if no one thinks it is the shine, I would still like to know what the shine is?

Thanks.

hi blckkeys:grin::grin: could we hav a picture of the little guy :happy:









chris:wacko:

Here are two pics. They are not the best quality, but hopefully you can see what I mean. Still ahse good weight and I can not notice ribs and back bone showing. Still feeding, not as voracious has he did in water, but still eating. You can see what I mean about having a biut of a shine to him. I could jsut be paranoid though.

Crested newts that become terrestrial after an extended aquatic phase do normally have a shiny appearance, especially when they first leave the water. What you should see over the next few days and weeks is the skin drying out, losing the shine and becoming granular.

As the newt has just left the water I wouldn’t be too concerned.

Thanks for the replies. I figured since he still had good weight and is still eating, that he was fine. Or at least appears to be fine right now.

I would still like to know what the shine however. I can not seem to find much on it. Or could someone point me in the right direction.

The term "shine" is just a colloquial expression for a commonly-seen symptom. I wrote the text of that page, basing the description on what I've seen over the years. I'm sure I'm not the first person to call it "the shine", though I suppose one could accuse me of making it up. Stressed newts, particularly new imports, sometimes display shiny skin, that's the crux of it. The cases depicted on that page may have completely different etiologies, there is no way to know. It is especially obvious when it happens to newts that normally have a dry bumpy skin, such as Tylototritons. I don't think anyone knows for sure what causes it or how to treat it. Newts do often recover when given good care.

Jennewt,

Thanks, now I can stop racking my brain trying to figure it out.

I suppose it would help if some of this explanation were given on that page with the photos.