Silvery white patches on new newt

Hi! This is my first post and unfortunately its because I might have a problem with one of my newts. We bought 2, and have had them for 1.5 weeks. I noticed this evening that the more outgoing and active newt has some silvery patches near his eyes. They are just small...but definitely weren't there before. I did a 1/3 water change and gravel clean at 1 week. Both are eating well and are active. Not sure what to do. Is this a normal newt thing? Or is this the beginning of the end for poor Hoppy?

What kind of newts, where did they come from, etc? Do you think the patches are areas of growth (fungal) or erosion (abraded or possibly flesh-eating) in nature?

I'd separate the two just to be safe, then maybe pm one of the vets here if no one w/ more experience chimes in, but I think a little more info will help.

Good luck,
Dana

I bought them at an aquarium store and they were labelled fire bellied newts. Here's a picture of Hoppy a few days ago. If that will help determine what he is. It doesn't look like a growth, but more like...the skin was rubbed away. If a newt was scratched I guess what would that look like??

I managed to get a couple of Hoppy shots after my last post. Hopefully this helps.

Here are the pics.

Weirdly enough the spots were gone today. WEIRD!

Hmmm. Well, Hoppy seems to be a C. Orientalis (Chinese Fire-Bellied Newt) and if the spots were gone, I'd suspect they weren't actually areas of abrasion but of something stuck on him. I'd still isolate him and chill the water in case this is a fungus and watch him closely. There is also a section here on salt baths you may want to read in case it seems indicated down the road.

Problem is that these aquarium shops are getting these animals from the wild, hence the term we use here of WC (wild caught) as opposed to Captive Bred, CB. They are often gathered by the masses and transported in poor conditions. Those who do survive the trip are in poor health, subject to any number of diseases, then often kept in less than optimal conditions in the pet store. My pet store, where I bought my pair before being educated on this, couldn't keep their newts alive. My pair and one other woman's pair are the sole survivors and they don't even attempt to get them in anymore. It's too warm in there at night, not enough water, etc. Anyway, any of these pet store newts could be sick, though won't show it for weeks or longer.

Feed these newts a good, varied diet and keep us posted. I give blackworms and white worms (both from this site under For Sale/Trade) and frozen and thawed bloodworms. Earthworms are great for them as well.

Good luck,
Dana

The silvery patches were just air traped over the skin. When they entered the water their skins were dry and in contact with water a thin layer of air sticks to it for a while.
As you´ve experienced, it disappears.

I'm glad you chimed in. I've seen that phenomenon on my newts, too, but didn't put it together with these ones! It was easy to see on mine, but if you're not familiar with the animals, it could have seemed like something more.

Dana

Thanks so much Azhael! I've been watching them very closely since and they are both doing great! So I do believe it was what you said. A relief that it was nothing!