Unfortunate loss of T. taliangensis

[foster]

This past Tuesday while feeding the newts my huge female T. taliangensis snapped up a rather large pebble while eating an earthworm section. It was so large that for the split second before she swallowed it I thought for sure that she would spit it out. I had to go to work immediately afterwards and I was hoping that she regurgitated it. She seemed fine throughout the week however when I went to feed today she was dead. In retrospect I am wondering if there was anything that I could have done? There are a few exotic vets in the area however they generally treat mostly iguanas, ferrets, and the like. Would surgery have been possible?
Chip

 

[jennifer]

Sorry to hear it, Chip.

Although surgery may have been possible, it would have no assurance of survival, and would be costly. Plus, there was no way of knowing if it was even necessary, as rocks can pass through.

 

[TJ]

That's really too bad, Chip

I haven't experienced that with my newts (or at least I never noticed it happen!). I've pretty much only used gravel that appears small enough to pass through the digestive system or big enough to not be swallowed.

But a couple of years ago, I did have a Cynops pyrrhogaster die a day after I witnessed it swallow a piece of foil that came off the frozen bloodworm package. I've since been rinsing the packages briefly under the tap after removing them from the freezer. That way, the cubes exit the package easily without foil coming off. I feed a couple sheets a day though as I have a lot of mouths to feed, so I do get the occasional piece of foil falling in a tank, which is removed as soon as it's noticed. Guess it'd be best to empty the cubes into a small bowl first. Jen, you might want to warn people about this potential threat at Caudate Central

(Message edited by TJ on September 07, 2005)

 

[foster]

Thanks for the input from both of you. I am really hoping that this was a freak occurence. The setups for both the taliangensis and kweichow's are well established in terms of biological filtration and plant growth. I would hate to have to tear them both down just to change the gravel (although if this happens again I will). The gravel I use is the standard, brown stones sold in 25 lb bags in the fish section at walmart. On a related note, years ago when I was in college and working at a local pet store, we lost an otherwise healthy appearing juvenile horned frog. I dissected it only to find it's stomach full of the same gravel that had been in it's enclosure.
Chip

 

[TJ]

I guess what you could do would be to establish a feeding area of the aquarium that's gravel-free. That's what I do in some of my aquatic tanks in which I use river sand as substrate.

With some of my terrestrial setups for Hynobiids, I use Seramis ceramic gravel as the bottom layer, but I move the salamanders onto moss before feeding them wax worms.

There's a related discussion under way about sand, gravel, and the danger of impaction in this axie thread:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/793/40320.html

 

[jennifer]

Good idea, Tim, will do.

Chip, did you get my e-mail? If not, please mail me.

 

[pin-pin]

I'm sorry to hear it Chip. I had a toad die on me for the exactly the same thing.

I thought there was absolutely no way it could have swallowed a rock the size of its head.

I've switched to sand or bare bottom on all my animals now as a result.

 

[foster]

Tim,
I almost always forcep feed each individual so usually there is little or no contact with the substrate. Last week I had accidentally dropped the earthworm section. She was already in the process of stalking so I just let her go so I could go on to the next individual. Thanks for the tip on the Axie thread, I'll check it out.

Jen,
I did not get your email. I have had problems in the past with people using my intergate address. My work email is chip reves@carilion.com


- when I previewed this message before posting I noticed that my first name and the following space did not register as part of my address(it is part of it)
Chip