Illness/Sickness: Fungus on California Newt

[zerq]

I have a 13 year old rough-skinned California newt (taricha granulosa, i believe) named Jake that became bloated and developed a small white patch of fungus on his tail recently after changing the water in his tank. I have read all about the salt baths and 'dirt quarantines' and have been doing both regularly, mixed with leaving him in normal clean water for periods of time. The patch has enlarged and there's redness around it as well that i assume is simply from the damaged skin. His bloating around his head and neck did go down last night but his belly seems a bit big still. He is mostly an aquatic newt so i worry about the dry treatment as he seems to get parched after a while and I feel anxious about leaving him in that state. Also, the fungus seems too big now to simply rub off with a q tip as it would probably hurt him like ripping off a scab. Does anybody have experience with the California newt and this white fungal infection? Any help would relieve a lot of stress.

 

[zerq]

I just tried using bactine directly on the affected area yesterday because i read that it can be used to treat infections on the skin of newts. I then placed him back into the dirt quarantine container with a bit of moisture. Today, it looks even worse though. the affected area seems to have grown and appears redder around the edges. I continually do salt baths once, sometimes twice a day. I'm wondering how to treat not only the fungus but the skin infection that it is most likely feeding on, the baths don't seem to be subsiding it well enough.

 

[Jennewt]

Congrats on keeping your newt for 13 years, that's great. He is at an advanced age, and that may be part of his problems. I really don't know what you can do for a skin infection if it doesn't respond to salt baths or a disinfectant. You could certainly try antibiotics (and you can get better ones from a vet than from a pet shop). But there are amphibian skin infections that are viral, and these aren't going to respond well to anything. I'm sorry I don't have any other ideas to offer.

 

[zerq]

Yeah, that's what i feared. He's become a lot worse since this morning, he's stopped moving aside from slight movements of the tip of his tail. I think that the viral infection most likely spread through his body, i don't see him lasting the night. How can i tell for sure when he's gone?