Dead newt :-(

[RobM]

Hey guys,

found one of my little guys upside down at the bottom of the tank. fished him out, he's tail twitches when i touch him, do you think there is any chance he's still alive? or is this part of their defence mechanism?

:-(

 

[Azhael]

What species are we talking about?
It sounds like the animal was drowning. They can recover from that. Leave the animal alone in a tupper with moist paper towels as bedding. Do not touch it or disturb it. It may recover as if nothing had happened, so there is still hope.
You will have to think about why the animal was drowning, though....is there no land areas at all? are they hard to reach? is the animal a juvenile? Whatever the reason, you will have to sort it out so that it doesnt happen again.

 

[RobM]

Neurergus kaiseri

I have put him on land under a pot (this was over an hour ago)
he/she is fairly young, other than tail he/she wont move anything else

I have removed the others and am preparing a new tank

 

[RobM]

There are plenty of land areas, I have a corner turtle dock, which they should be able to climb. There's also a big rock and a lump of wood to climb up if they need it, they have never had a problem getting onto the dock before.

I dont know why but i suspect the water has a problem based on how easy it should be for them to get out. I am kinda suspecting everything, got new plants a couple of days ago, i have a biogradable bamboo pot in the water too, which worries me too now

 

[RobM]

He's tail is twitching when I open the box now, which is sort of an improvement, as before it was only after I touched him. However I am worried that I could be causing him continuous pain, what if I hurt he's legs when I fished him out or something, he could be just dying slowly in pain, I dont want that! :-( its been like 10 hours!

 

[Starry]

Oh no, poor little thing! I would say maybe call an exotics vet to see what they recommend and if the twitching could mean pain or just a reflex. I personally think that if there is still movement to continue to leave him as is and check on him often.

 

[RobM]

Still no movement in arms, legs and head. Tail still moves and that's it... its been like 20 hours... do you think it could be paralysed?

 

[RobM]

after over 24 hours of tail twitch, he's finally gone :-(
I've noticed like blood near the cloaca, any ideas what would cause that?

Thanks...

 

[Azhael]

The red cloaca could be a sign of some infection...or perhaps parasites ?
I´m very sorry you lost this one..best of lucks with the rest!

 

[RobM]

would the others be at risk? where could the parasites have came from?
Is there any way I should treat the rest?

 

[Starry]

It might be a good idea to completely sterilize everything in the tank the others are in...that might prevent them from getting the infection (if that's what it is) and if it's parasites it should get rid of those. Trouble is if they are already infected cleaning the tank might not stop it from becoming worse like your other poor guy.

 

[RobM]

well when I moved them to the cage they are in now, i washed the whole tank with boiling water, including the rocks and wood, so this one should be ok, unless they already have caught something.
I still hav'nt moved them back to the original tank yet, which I'll be sure to do the same with. Any treatment I can give them?