Illness/Sickness: Freaky-jawed newt

E

EifLadida

New member
Joined
Jul 13, 2010
Messages
20
Reaction score
1
Points
3
Country
United States
My underweight paddletail newt seems as if he can barely open his mouth. He nudges at the worms I give him until they bury themselves under the gravel. He acts as if he wants the food desperately, but after a while he gives up and slinks away. He has been like this since I got him over a month ago. I fear there is something wrong with his jaw.

My current course of action is to keep him isolated from his tankmate so he has plenty of time to figure out how to get his mouth around his food. :lame:

Any suggestions?
 

Attachments

  • Eif newt.jpg
    Eif newt.jpg
    45.4 KB · Views: 212
By the way, both of the newts had poor coloration when I got them. The other now has bold coloration and is of normal weight. The other... no such luck.
 
hmmm I cant see anything wrong with his jaw... but then Im not sure what I am looking for. His colouration is off.... but like you said you knew that already.

The smaller of my paddletails is reluctant to eat sometimes too but he does in the end. Keep an eye on him. Im pretty sure someone else will be able to give you better advice.

=]

xxxxx
 
I have a similar problem with one of my newts. It’s very enthusiastic about food but when it strikes it rarely opens it’s mouth more than a few millimetres (2mm perhaps) and sometimes not at all (think head-butt!). This makes feeding a challenge! The way I’ve overcome this is to feed it very small earthworm pieces which I thread onto thin of wire. This gives excellent control of the angle the worm is offered and also stops the worm chunk from thrashing around. It’s not perfect but eventually a strike will be successful. It’s been like this for over a year and is otherwise in great shape. I have no idea what causes this restriction in jaw movement. It wasn’t present when the animal was a juvenile.
 
I am sorry to hear about your newt, but thank you for the advice. Maybe my little guy has some hope! :eek:
 
The little newt is doing wonderfully now. I fashioned a wire hook to string short wrms onto horizonally. I just clip it to the rim of the tank and, viola, a few minutes later, a fat and happy newt. I hope this thread helps some other severly stressed out owner. :p
 
It has been a good four months since I received the little devil now. He, (or she. But who really knows with paddletails, anyway?) the sickliest and most deformed of the pair, ended being the one that lived, healthy with a good pudge. His eating time has been reduced form 15-20 minutes to 1-5, but I wish I could say the hook wasn't necessary. I would put up pictures of the newt and his feeding-thing, but my camera is old and spastic.
I must admit, little Eif has been a wonderful obsession to keep me distracted from life as a student. I know that amphibians are blessed with one of the most primitive neurological systems on the planet, but, as most of you probably know, there is something wonderful in maintaining such a creature: something so evolutionarily disadvantaged that it is utterly and hopelessly dependent on its keeper for survival, but also so enthralling that its keeper is utterly and hopelessly infatuated by it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • Shane douglas:
    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
     +1
    Unlike
  • Thorninmyside:
    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
     +1
    Unlike
  • stanleyc:
    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
     +1
    Unlike
  • Clareclare:
    Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?
     +1
    Unlike
    Clareclare: Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus... +1
    Back
    Top