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Big cloaca on female fire belly

loublue

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Hi. Noticed that my newt who seems very healthy otherwise has a swollen cloaca all of a sudden. I have no gravel or anything else on the bottom of the tank. I feed her earthworms mainly, usually in small pieces.
I tried searching on the forum but didn't find a satisfying answer to what the reason for this could be. Any theories? Would appreciate it.

Thank you
 

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Chinadog

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It's impossible to guess from photos alone. An egg laying female's cloaca changes shape but it doesn't really look like that, if it was mine I'd be taking it to the vets for a proper diagnosis. If a vet's is out of the question your only option is to keep an eye on it and see if it gets any worse. I wouldn't worry about feeding her, she looks quite thin and could really do with putting on some weight.
Are you absolutely sure it's female?
 

loublue

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It's impossible to guess from photos alone. An egg laying female's cloaca changes shape but it doesn't really look like that, if it was mine I'd be taking it to the vets for a proper diagnosis. If a vet's is out of the question your only option is to keep an eye on it and see if it gets any worse. I wouldn't worry about feeding her, she looks quite thin and could really do with putting on some weight.
Are you absolutely sure it's female?

She's alone, no other newts . No vets (that have any knowledge about amphibians) around unfortunately, that's the problem.
And yes, this is the same newt from all of my threads. She's the one with swallowing problems, even though that has gotten slightly better so maybe it will get better and better with time. I read that a cold temperature should make it easier for them to pass whatever is stuck in the body, so I will try that. And I will also feed her as usual.
Thank you for the response.
 

loublue

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It is big, but if she's otherwise OK I'd just chalk it up to variation. Perhaps she is a male?

She seems completely fine otherwise, no trouble swimming either (I was thinking maybe the weight of it would be a problem, especially if it gets bigger). When she was bought they said she was a female, and I've also been told on this forum that it's a female. Personally I don't know enough to be able to tell. I just know it hasn't always been that big.

PS: Tried making the water colder, hasn't helped so far. Also fed her some fish today, instead of the earthworms. I read another thread where someone mentioned that axolotls can get constipated by earthworms (surprised me since it's a very praised source of food on here and I never heard that before), so that made me wonder.
 
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loublue

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Hi! No change in my newt. I was thinking of fridging her. Is this a good idea? And if it is constipation, I read about a vet that fed waxworms dipped in olive oil (not sure what kind of species that was treated exactly). Could I try this but with earth worms for my fire belly? if that does not help maybe put her in the fridge.
I mostly want confirmation before i try these things because I don't know anyone else who has any knowledge about newts.
 
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