Paddletail newt not doing well, please help!

Hi there.
So i got my paddletail about a week ago, she has been swimming around adventuring / trying to escape pretty consistently.

but now all day (atleast 8-10 hours) she has been lying in the corner of the ten gallon tank behind a rock, barely moving.

yesterday she had a small white blob on her upper lip, today it is much more pronounced and concerning. when doing research i was unable to determine what it could be, other than that it does not look like ich.

there are three white cloud minnows sharing the tank with her, i feed them all bloodworms every other day.
i have not seen her eat at all but am assured by the pet store that if she is hungry enough, she will eat the fish.

ph levels are around 7.5, ammonia nitrate and nitrite levels are all very very low.

i am needing to know what is happening to my newt, what has caused the problem, and how to fix it!

thanks for reading, i am very distraught over this.

here are links to the attached photos:
http://tinyurl.com/boh5l9g

http://tinyurl.com/c9899uq

thanks for any help anyone is able to provide! i just want my newt to be happy and healthy.

What is the water temperature? Newts need it cool (ideally about 65F or lower). Your newt appears to me to have an infection. Use this link Caudata Culture Articles and scroll down and read all the articles under the Health and Illness section.
Good luck
Heather

water temp is ok. i have a fan on it and temp reads about 64F on average.

UPDATE: she molted and then ate her discarded skin!
still a bit of discoloration on the lip, however she seems active and feeling good once more.

i scrolled through the illness images before posting, i sought help on the forum after not being able to find anything that resembles my newts specific symptoms.

so if she is up and about, should i still quarantine her? the minnows which share her tank seem fine. maybe ill quarantine them instead?

new to fish tankery, thanks for the advice.

That's not a paddletail. That looks more like a P. chinensis.

The sitting and doing nothing is pretty characteristic of most salamanders. So is eating their shed.

The lip could be an abrasion that's gotten infected, or a bite from a tank mate. If it doesn't keep looking better, consult a vet.

What's your setup like? Filtration? Water change regime?

for filtration i use an Aqua Clear Power FIlter.

water change schedule is weekly, in that i have had it for about a week and have just changed out about 40% of the water for fresh filtered water treated with Aqua Safe Plus.
ph now stands at right around 7.

i have added a frisbee for terrestrial surface. not a permanent solution but it will do for now.

the lip thing is really concerning me because the skin appears to be deteriorating.
i am planning on going to an aquatic vet in 4 days but am concerned that would be waiting too long.

on the other hand i just want to leave her be for a while. i gently peeled her off the glass from where she wedged herself behind the water filter intake tube last night using a soft silicone spatula, and accidentally poked her in the eye!
definitely feel like i should have just let her be. fortunately she seems ok.

still trying to escape, rushing upwards at all corners of tank etc.
i saw one of the minnows nibble at the newts tail, but i think it was nothing.

should i separate my animals? i was told by the pet store that she would just eat the fish if she was hungry enough.
i was also instructed to feed all creatures only bloodworms, as that is what they were fed at the pet store.
the fish pig out but i have never actually seen the newt ever eat.

according to p chinensis research, i should get some baby shrimps and earthworms.

Additional: Pictures!

Earthworms are an excellent food. They should be your primary food source.

You'll want to test your water for ammonia and nitrites as well. Or you can do frequent, small water changes; 10-20% a couple times a week. Or you can heavily plant the tank. Poor water quality is usually what causes 'escape' behaviors. How warm is your tank? Do you have a secure lid? Newts are quite adept at climbing the walls and escaping.

Regarding the lip, it may be advisable to keep it in a terrestrial setup until it heals. Here's an article on wound care.

I would definitely take the minnows out. It's unlikely that they'll be eaten, and they could be stressing the newt out.

ok so i got two containers, set up one fully aquatic for the fishes and one semi-aquatic for the newt. (one of the minnows perished in the original tank.)

i bought earthworms (red wigglers) and have tried to feed them to the newt with no luck.
when i plopped one in the tank, it immediately escaped into the rocks.
i cut one up and plopped it in, same story.

finally i cut one up on a platter and gently placed it in with the newt.
when i had returned from work the remains were still on the platter.

maybe it ate some of the worm chunks, it is very hard to say.
now it has backed itself down into the rocks with it's back to the glass submerged in water up to the neck (see picture attached.)

i don't think it's stuck but it hasn't moved in some time (at least ten hours.)
it looks fatter but it could just be because it is all squished up against the rocks.
hard to say.

maybe she isn't eating because of the wound?
i am about to go to the store to buy antibiotic ointment.

i was thinking about applying some on her back as well as the wound site, in case the infection has spread throughout her immune system.

should i just sit and wait instead?
i am concerned that if she is not eating then she will be unable to heal.

the plan is to transfer her back into the original tank (the one with the filter) tonight/tomorrow, after it has been deep cleansed and fully rearranged for semi-aquatic conditions.

thanks for reading and providing assistance!

-Ivan

I'm no expert, but I definitely would talk to others on here first before using antibiotic ointment you would get at a store.

From what I've read, that could euthanize him. But I'd wait to hear what others have to say.

Oops. Just came across this:

"I've had a lot of success using silver sulfadiazine (Flamazine) cream, but this is by prescription only. If you are really stuck without a doctor to consult with locally, you can also use any over-the-counter ophthalmic antibiotic ointment. Most commonly you will find one that is bacitracin/neomycin/polymixin or other similar mixes.

Be sure not to purchase an ointment that includes a steroid (i.e. hydrocortisone, dexamethasone, etc., can't remember which ones you will find readily in OTC ointments). You do not usually need a steroid in infected wound management, and they can cause more harm than good when used inappropriately.

With the OTC antibiotic ointments, you can apply a small layer to the affected area with a cotton swab/Q-tip once daily, and hopefully you will start to see improvement within the week. I generally continue treatment until I see a nice layer of granulation tissue forming, the skin will look more intact but still a little pinkish or whitish.

Try to keep the little guy eating during the treatment period. Reasons for him to not eat could be stress (change in environment, wound pain), pain, or he could be septic. Stress can hopefully be avoided by providing an accommodating enclosure that is similar to the permanent enclosure. Pain management needs to be addressed by a vet. If he is experiencing septic shock from the infection spreading systemically, he'll need some severe intervention."

thanks, this is similar to the information i had gathered as well about antibiotic ointment.
any pain relief ingredients are poisonous to amphibians, but traditional neosporin is considered "safe"

i have not yet applied any to her snout, as we have a newt doctors appointment tomorrow.
sitting and waiting and doing nothing feels awful!
i was thinking about just bathing her in a tupperware full of fresh filtered water
(our filter does not dechlorinate) while i reset her habitat with fresh water and clean rocks.

she has moved in her habitat slightly and her snout looks much worse! (see picture attached.)
i cannot get her to eat anything, all i can think to prepare is more dead worms on a plate.

I'd probably try the neosporin since it seems to be getting worse pretty quickly. It couldn't hurt.....

ok so i gave her fresh water bath while i set up her new enclosure - one small enough to take to the vet tomorrow.

after the bath i attempted to apply bacitracin antibiotic ointment.
i should point out that at this point she was half way through shedding her skin.

at first i dabbed at the affected area with a q-tip (very, very gently), then heated some up with my breath on the tip of my finger. either way the ointment would not adhere to the wound.

while it is possible that there was some transfer of medicine, overall it was likely more traumatic and stressful than helpful. this was probably a bad idea. maybe a cream would have done a better job adhering to the wound site.

this whole time she has never evaded me and seems happy to crawl around on my hand. she actually shucked the last of her shed on my palm, but did not eat it this time.

Oh no. I hope everything goes well at the vet tomorrow.

thank you.
i will relay here what i learn.

i have just returned from the vet.
was prescribed silver sulfadiazine cream to be applied at the wound site once daily.

i was told that the infection is unlikely to have spread throughout the newts body.
the vet handled the newt much more roughly than i ever have, which made me both uneasy and relieved that nothing i had done was overly traumatic.

this is the vets assessment:
"bright alert responsive. hydration is adequate. is active when handled (gloves rinsed with spring water). appears to have adequate body fat, musculature. body score 3/5. heart good on doppler, breathes deeply. good abdomen. right nostral/rostrum area is depigmented and slightly eroded. could not get mouth open to see if it extends into mouth."

now she is calming down after the car ride.
hopefully all is well! i will continue to post here regarding the effectiveness of the treatment, should heal within 1 to 2 weeks.

much thanks to Jewett, Kaysie and Mortimer for all the help & educated advice.

I commend you for seeking appropriate professional medical help! Glad that it sounds as though she is in overall good condition and I wish her a speedy recovery.
Thank you for the updates and please do keep us informed as to her progress. Its always nice to hear about a recovery but also your experience increases the already vast information on this site. Thanks for contributing to it!
Heather

This sounds good! (Thanks for the update!). Please let us know how things go.

application of medication is fiddly at best.
it has now been one week and two days, symptoms seem to be worse.
i had a suspicion that there was something awry with the rest of her jaw as well, and today when treating the injury it looks like i was right.
there is now depigmentation and slight erosion on the lower left lip.
the vet was unable to open the newts mouth during the appointment, so my concern is that the infection is in the poor things mouth.

she has been living in a quarantine tank with no filtration (i completely wash and replace everything every other day and treat with Aqua Safe Plus) with no pond so she cannot submerge, but with enough water to be wet.

still feeding her blood worms but i still have yet to see her eat.
there is always a lot of left over wasted food.

the vet said that in two weeks if this wasn't solved to go back in and they would do a biopsy, but i am not sure if i am willing to keep pouring out money for a ten dollar newt.

a life is a life, but at some point it just gets silly.
what i am considering doing is just reintroducing her to the ten gallon with filtration, and just letting her live as is.

fish seem fine, one perished like i said but the other two are happy and active in their new tank.

just not really sure what to do here. not sure i can afford another 80$ vet appointment.