Neurergus Strauchii Strauchii limb regeneration photo documentary

Gradje1

Gradje1

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Hello members,

I am experiencing a special situation with one of my newts, since I saw no similar treat in the forum I thought I share it with you.

A week ago (10 nov) my Neurergus Strauchii Strauchii juvenile had an accident. A tankmate saw his back paw as a meal and unfortunately his leg was quite injured after that. His leg was still attached but angled and he couldn't move it anymore, probably his leg muscles were ripped. I waited 2 days (12 nov) for it to maybe recover, however it was already to late. His resting leg tissue was degenerating and began molding. So I needed to amputate his leg. I did this very carefully with a sterilized nail scissor. I cutted the leg off as close to his hip as possible, to create a small surfaced wound to minimize the chance of infection.






In the bottom picture you can clearly see his leg bone was still intact, but the muscles around are missing. That explained why he could not move that paw anymore.

This was right after the amputation.






After the amputation is returned him to his tank. I threat the water with ESHA Optima and ESHA Minaroll,
which are stimulators of the immunesystem and vitamin preparations. T
his will back him up in his leg recovery. At the time he still ate food and does so now, so i dont think he became infected.
 
Today 7 days (Week 1) post amputation:

De wound is healing to a smooth stump with in the center the bone tissue. De newts is still a happy walker! He began using his tail as spacer to replace his back limb.







 
Day 14 (week 2) post amputation:

The little newt is still happy and healthy. His wound is slowly recovering and it's beginning to repigment into black. I am not sure if his leg will regenerate, but if it will, it will be a very patient process.









 
It should regenerate another leg, I’ve amputated lots of times and always new limbs grow back.
I have done it with juvenile animals and adults ,one adult grew back a stump instead of a foot but isn’t a problem
 
Good to know, since my newt is juvenile I think his chances to regrow his leg completely are good.
 
Day 21 (week 3) post ampuation:

There is deffinetely progress now. His bone grow a bit longer and the stump is a bit bigger. His wound is now completely covered in pigmented skin. His legbone stick out a bit, it seems to grow on its own, which I did not knew was possible.
I guess his leg tissue will cover his bone someday, then his paw can be remodeled.







 
Day 28 (week 4) post amputation:

His stump is growing now. Very fascinating to already see a difference between day 0 post amputation. In the previous week his leg bone was still sticking out, but today his bone is covered in epidermal tissue.







His stump is probably end-dedifferentiation phase and is starting to proliferate newly formed bone and epidermal tissue cells, see the underneath picture. I predict the following week his leg will grow some length.
 
Day 35 (week 5) post amputation:

This week his paw is growing very well! A few millimeters are added in length. Also his stump can move like he uses his former leg. So the hip-leg muscles, which were ripped, did regenerate back this week, and still do.





 
Day 42 (week 6) post amputation:

This week his stump grew a bit longer en bigger, it developed a bit more limb-like, instead of a pointy stump from last week. Probably in like 3 weeks his toes and knee joint will develop.







Merry christmas everyone!
 
Day 49 (week 7) post amputation:

Progress! The little newt is growing a few toes! I did not expect his foot is developing first, before his knee joint. Well as you can see, there are developing 3 toes for now. He also moves his mini-leg just like his others, so the hip muscles are completely regenerated at this point.







Best wishes and a happy new(t) year!
 
This is such a nice thing to see going into the new year! Glad to see this limb is regenerating nicely.
 
Day 56 (Week 8) post amputation:

His leg is growing very well. The knee joint is developing now. The newt also uses his regenerated paw when he walks. Very cool to see his new leg is moving around so much.







 
Day 63 (week 9) post amputation:

This week his paw grew a bit longer, now he is walking on it all the time.









 
Day 70 (week 10) post amputation:

This week his leg grew bigger and his toes grew taller. Good progress. At this point his knee joint is starting to develop.







 
Day 77 (week 11) post amputation:

This week his knee joint began to develop. It's a bit hard to see in the photo's but on the first picture you can see his knee a little. He can also stand on his 4 legs now so bones are deffinettely forming.







 
Hello,

This thread is most impressive! Great progress of the little guy and very educational of the whole regeneration progress!
 
Thank you! This is really what I think is the most fascinating about newts. This regeneration process is really special. Too bad mammals lost this capacity somewhere in evolution.
 
I think salamanders evolved the ability to regenerate limbs more recently than their common ancestor with mammals, particularly since I don't think it something that frogs do. I do agree that adult limb regeneration is one of the most amazing things about newts. Its existence makes one wonder why it's not more common, given how useful you would think it would be.
 
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