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Should I be worried over my chinese fire bellies curling up?

Neuter

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I've had a chinese fire belly for 2 weeks now. I got him from a dealer who had him in HORENDOUS conditions. He has been in better conditions now, I got him to eat live blackworms and I think he is eating the frozen bloodworms I put in the tank for him, it is hard to tell as he is a bit skidish if I try to hand feed him so I put the food in the tank and remove what is left after 12 or 13 hours.

He would mostly sort of lay on some plastic aquatic plants I had on one side of the tank, anywhere from the top of the water(10 or 11 inches), to near the bottom. I tried hand feeding him 3 days ago and the tank was jarred a bit, he was scared and does not seem to be willing to go back to his previous hiding place. Now he likes to hide under a pottery shard on the bottom of my bare bottom tank. The odd thing is that he now curls his tail up. I have not seen him curl up his tail before but now when he rests under there, he curls his tail towards his head.

He seemed sort of sluggish and slow when I saw him move and he just seems very immobile. I worried he may have some sort of health problem and may have difficulty breathing so I VERY gently lifted him, he did not really panic. I gently placed him on the small land area, he slid back into the water quickly and went back to that hiding spot. He made a bowel movement today, if that helps diagnose at all.

He seems very sluggish but has no apparent injuries or sickness, should I be worried? I've never seen him lay with his tail curled towards his head before but now he always does.

Also of note, can't say if it was related or not. My tank may have warmed up a bit due to the weather, I usually kept the tank in the 68-71 range but it may have shifted to 70-72. I put a bottle of ice(dechloronated water, though none is leaking) to cool it down, it is now 64-68.

Should I be worried? Anything I should do?
 

jbherpin

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My newts will curl the tail to keep it under the hide. What i mean is that if the hide-away is just big enough to fit the body, the natural response is to curl the tail out of "exposure". Your newt sounds healthy, probably just acclimating to the new home. All newts are relatively lazy, in my experience! The bowel movement...Solid..Not so..? If it was well formed you should be okay! Best of luck!
-jbherpin-
 

Neuter

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Still a little worried, it has a small wound on it's tail from when I first got it, he does not seem to use it when he swims anymore and moves much slower.

It curls up it's tail even when it is not under cover.
 

Neuter

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Update: When I first got him he had a small white spot on his tail. I cannot be certain but I am pretty sure it is slowly growing, it looks almost like a small flesh wound. When I looked at him this morning, I could swear that there is either a small, pin sized hole big enough that I can see through, or the membrane is so thin that the light goes through it.
He never uses his tail when he swims now.
 

Neuter

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I have no vets in the area who deal with these sorts of animals and am on a pretty limtied budget. Is there anything I can do on my own?
 

jbherpin

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There is a book called "Popular Amphibians", and is a part of the Advanced Vivarium Systems book series. It has a good chapter on illnesses and ways to treat them. I'm sorry to have given the "thumbs up", I didn't read that it had this wound to the tail until after my original post. Good luck with it, and keep us informed...

-jbherpin-
 

Neuter

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An update. I thought about it some more. When I first got him he had what looked like a small white spot, a small flesh wound on the tail. He did swim with the tail. It has very slowly grown, there is now a small hole in his tail, maybe 1/3th the circumference of a pencil. It goes all the way through. It is roughly halfway up the length of the tail in the center.

The hole is big enough that when he lays quasi vertically on a plant, the tail folds around on that point, sort of limp.

I VERY GENTLY got him to swim onto my hand last night by gently prodding and picked him up and put him in a small basin with some very small chopped up earthworm. I also put in some live blackworms. He ate a little bit of the earthworm but ignored the rest and spent his time trying to get out of the basin which he could not because the walls were too steep. I put him back in his regular tank after about a half an hour. I used the time that he was in the basin to change the makeup of the tank.

I drastically lowered the water level to just under 4 inches, now he stratles the plastic plants and so his nose is just touching the waters surface. It is hard to judge but he SEEMS a little happier this way. He used to spend his time hiding in the plants but once his tail started to have trouble he could not get up there. So he spent all his time hiding under a pottery shard in the corner of the tank, never leaving. Now he spends his time in the plants again, near the surface.


I am still very interested in any input anyone has. I am certain the supplier or wholesaler stored their newts with something which chewed on them, I think it likely that something bit into the tail and that caused the initial wound. I am guessing/hoping that the bite ruptured some blood vessel so that the tail was not getting enough blood and then slowly atrophied. The tail itself looks healthy, except for the hole.

I read posts by others that when newts had injuries on their legs they would sometimes shrivel up and fall off and then they would regrow. I am hoping that the hole will grow big enough that half it’s tail falls off that is the end of it’s injury. Is this realistic?
 

Neuter

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Based on more reading I am really worried it is an ulcer. Based on the size I think it is too late to do anything but pray. Based on similar threads on the forum, I think my poor newty is doomed :(.
 

Neuter

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Does anyone have any thoughts on amputation? Would it be a good idea to amputate the tail above the spot with the ulcer? I worry that the growinng hole will open up it's bloodstream to potential infection.

The newt has never eaten heartily since I got him but I get him to eat a couple of times a week. Since the hole started to grow he does not seem as hungry. He is not very skinny but I would like it if he had a little more body weight.
 
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