Very worried about my much-loved aged newt

Cutie is what I think is called a common brown newt. We've had her for about twenty years and she was six or seven when we got her. So that makes her in her late twenties now.



We are very fond of her and she is incredibly responsive. However, I think she may be on her way out. We had a bad heat wave earlier this summer, and the past week or so she has been not herself, spending a lot of time above water, and now I notice her neck is swollen, and I think she has the beginning of bloat. Her body is not swollen, but her eyes look sort of glazed and she's not very active and seems to have difficulty eating her pellets.

My question is, is she in pain? Will this be a long, drawn-out thing? I am willing to euthanize her using ethyl alcohol if I think she is suffering, but right now she is quiet, moving around a bit, and does not seem distressed (she had a mate years ago who blew up very quickly and died; this does not seem quite the same). My educated guess is that the heat may or may not have compromised her organs, with her being so old--this may have happened anyway. But my main concern is that I don't want to suffer.

It will break our hearts to lose her, she is very much part of the family.

I would take a wait and see approach right now. Due to her old age it may just be taking her a little longer to get over the stress of the heat.

Thanks for your reply, Justin. Unfortunately she is no better, her mouth and face are quite swollen and she is occasionally surfacing to gulp air. She is puffed up under her mouth as well, but not her body. Her eyes look swollen and a bit filmed. She is moving around a bit and doesn't seem to be in pain. That is my main concern. I don't want her to suffer.

It's very hard to watch. I wish I could do something to make her better, but as she is so old I hate to traumatize her further by handling or moving her.

If she can no longer consume food I would euthanize her, starving is actually quite painful for animals (and humans) as the animal knows it's energy reserves are diminishing but it can't refill them, the death is slow and agonizing to the viewer (the sufferer is most likely very tired, very sore, and very much wishing they could eat), but please remember that euthanasia is only 'for the best', it shouldn't be used otherwise, she is getting old now and it be best to euthanize her before she can suffer further.

It's a hard choice and I won't blame you for your choice (and neither should anyone else here), I had to euthanize my dog recently because she was going blind and she had some type of nasty cancer in her back legs, I did what I did because she only would've suffered if we didn't (she was 14, her optimal life-span is 18+).

This is so painful to watch.

My newt continues to be swollen, is only moving slightly and spending most of her time above water. I know this is the end of the road. She is clinging to her little filter now and just half-floating, half lying on it. Tiny bubbles surround her mouth. I would like to euthanize her, but she doesn't seem to be in any discomfort and my husband wants to let Nature take its course unless she seems to be suffering. She is just half floating quietly and he reminds me she does not like to be handled.

She is a rough-skinned newt and at least 27 years old. My guess is she is suffering from renal failure. It's come on slowly, over the past two weeks or so. She is a member of our family, my kids grew up with her, and she's a legend among our friends for her longevity. This is breaking my heart.

I had to euthanize my beloved old dog six months ago following a seizure; he was 14 and after the seizure had no control over his hind end. I didn't have a minute's hesitation. I've also euthanized two elderly cats with renal failure. Again, I had no problem. When my young, healthy horse--my soulmate--colicked and was in surgery, I told the vet that if her quality of life was going to be markedly impaired after the surgery, to put her down on the table. They were all obviously ready to go; you could see it in their eyes and they were visibly uncomfortable. For some reason, I can't understand, this is entirely different. It's not just my husband's reaction. I am terribly conflicted over my needs and wishes (not to watch her like this) as opposed to hers (???).

I wish I could just come to some decision I have peace with. I've read every post her about euthanasia and the excellent article by Ed Kowalski and I'm still in a quandary.:sad:

Thanks for listening. I know there's no easy answer. This is a great group.

After 27 years, I can definitely understand how difficult it has to be to make this sort of decision, but I concur that euthanasia would be much more humane than "letting nature take its course." I too, have had to make this decision many times. As pet owners/keepers, we must understand that sometimes we will come face to face with having to make this sort of decision. Her quality of life has been greatly diminished.

She has obviously had an amazing life in your care to make it to 27, be strong for her now, and accept what has come to pass. There is not one member her who should pass judgment on you (I certainly am not) for being faced with this and how you choose to deal with it.

I would just like to add something for any members that find this thread for help with deciding if euthanasia is the best choice.

Newts/Salamanders are very much wild-creatures, they have not been domesticated and as such still exhibit the good old fashioned "I can't act like I'm in pain because the predators will eat me" mentality. Many, many, many critters display some form or another of this mentality, I have seen this phenomena in the wild on multiple occasions, whether it be a lizard with a clearlyy broken/wounded leg or a gopher who survived being shot with a BB gun (hit in the head, missing its eye and featuring a clearly broken/disfigured jaw), nature is tough and harsh and this is why such a mentality even exists.

Now, this doesn't mean all critters who look fine are suffering, it just means that you can never judge whther or not an animal is "fine" just from how they act, try to put yourself in their life, they are dieing or suffering, if they show such things predators will target them, and they will be consumed, it doesn't really matter if they know you for all of their life as it is a 'sub-concious' reaction to prolonged pain or crippling wounds.

I euthanized my little newt a few minutes ago. I feel terrible. I am crying as I write this. It was awful. I had come down to her tank and she was floating upside down on the bottom, motionless. I thought she was dead. I went outside and dug a little hole and got a box and put a note in it, then some paper towels. When I came back to the tank she was still upside down on the bottom, and her limbs were waving feebly. She had been getting gradually worse but this was too much to bear. I called my husband down and put the ethyl alcohol bath together--one and a half cups and two ounces of straight vodka. We put her in it, right side up, and she lifted her head out of the water. She didn't seem to be getting anaesthesized at all, so after a little while I added more vodka. She was still moving, holding her head out of the water. I ended up putting in about six ounces of water, holding my hand a few inches over her head to shade it from the light. I suppose eventually I gave up but I couldn't see her head and we were both crying. It seemed to take ages. We buried her out front under our dogwood tree and I feel like a murderer. I killed something I truly truly loved. I can't get out of my mind the picture of her lifting her little head out of the alcohol bath. I am just so sad and I am going to miss her--we both are--so very very much.

I'm so so sorry for your loss

Words can seem quite meanless sometimes.....

Remind yourselves that you have the strenght and wisdom to have 'done the right thing' (as it were), ......these qualities may help you focus on all the joy and pleasure over the many years, rather than on the loss.

Words can seem quite meanless sometimes.....

Again, I'm so sorry

As Ken said, there are no words to ease what you are feeling right now. I hope you take heart in the fact that you must have been doing so, so many things right for this lucky little girl to have kept her with you for 27 years! You did a commendable job with her and feel proud of that. There are so many newts that will never enjoy a life half as long with their keepers as what she had in your capable hands.

You, yourself, are very amazing! You were able to be so strong for her when she needed you most. It took an incredible amount of strength and love to end her suffering. I can only hope that I can be as courageous when necessary.

Thank you for your kindness, Ken and Shannon. It really helps. I can't believe I am mourning a little newt so much. I don't know if I would feel this bad if I had just let her die naturally, but I keep telling myself I did not cause her any more distress than she must have already been feeling. She was so little and vulnerable.

I found out doing some research last night that she was a Taricha granulosa granulosa. There are pictures on the net of little newts who look exactly as she did when she was well. It made me see how much she had deteriorated, and it brought back some happy memories of our years together. She was so funny, curious. She used to come to the side of the tank and practically talk to us. For years, when we went away, my neighbour would look after her at her house. My friend is a Buddhist, and when she chanted, Cutie used to come up to the side of her tank and press her little nose against the glass, her attention riveted. We joked she was a Buddhist Newt.

I also found out how toxic her skin was, which is a good thing, because I was tempted when I buried her to lay a kiss on her little head, and it's probably a good thing I decided not to.

I don't feel much better this morning, still tearing up a lot, but I hope she is in a better place. For the joy she gave us, if she is a Buddhist after all, she should be well on her waya to Nirvana.

Thank you all so much for your support.

Cutie's Mom.

I stop in here usually when I am having trouble of my own. I'm here now just to say hello and offer my condolences.

Going on 4 years ago now I adopted 5 newts of the same kind "Rough Skinned newts", "California newts", "Oregon newts", and their technical name "Taricha granulosa granulosa".

I only have 1 left. Every 6 months they would bloat twist and die. It was odd and difficult to watch. I would separate them and try to heal them until I could see their quality of life was diminished. I tried to euthanize one myself, but it took a long time and looked painful. (I used the anbesol recommendation linked to this site. it seems i bought one with too much alcohol and not enough benzoacaine). I felt horrible! The others I took to the vet. who couldn't do anything but euth. them. It seems you were able to do it very humanely. I understand completely what you are going through. I am so sorry for your loss.

Just remember, as has been said before, you did a wonderful job and gave her a fantastic 27+ years, and you did what was right to keep her from suffering.

I wish you all the best.

~Rachel "Newtons13"

Hi Rachel--

You can't know what a comfort your post gave me. Thank you.

I am so sorry you had such a difficult time with your newts. I can completely relate to your feeling about the botched euthanasia--we are only trying to stop their suffering, and any indication we're doing the opposite is devastating. I think Cutie was okay at the last, but the very fact she was twitching her tale and moving and trying to lift her head after she had been floating motionless on her back at the bottom of the tank just horrified me at what I was doing. I can't imagine how much more difficult it must have been for you. I am so sorry.

The Taricha granulosa granulosa are such sweet, adorable creatures. We got Cutie and her mate from a local Science Museum when they were about 7. Her mate was constantly at her, we used to laugh. Many times her eggs hatched into tiny newts, and I did my best to keep them alive, but was never successful. Her mate got bloat, blew up very suddenly and died about 10 years ago. We joked that after that she breathed a sigh of relief and settled down to a quiet life.

I knew nothing about newt care other than the very obvious. I did not know about this site. Cutie was kept in a ten-gallon tank with about two gallons of water and several rocks and a small filter. No plants. Pink acquarium gravel on the floor. No variety in her food--I gave her two sticks of ReptoMin every second day for her entire life with us. Her tank was on my kitchen counter by a window and I had no idea of what temperature it should be kept at--it was always just room temperature. I never knew about hibernation and the thought of putting her in the frig would have astounded me. Every couple of months I changed the water and the filter and scrubbed the algae off the rocks.

She went on like that, happily, year after year, swimming around in her tank, lounging on her rocks, occasionally having brief fits that made us think she might be epileptic. A couple of times we'd find her floating motionless on the water and panic, but the next minute she'd be swimming around normally as if she were only teasing us, playing possum. The kids grew up and went away to college, and friends would come and go, often exclaiming, "My God, you still have that newt?!" After a while we started referring to her as "The oldest newt in creation." I've since found out that it's not unheard of for that species to live as long as 30 years in captivity, but at that time we thought the average lifespan of the common newt was about 7 years.

She was an institution in our house, a real fixture, and the first thing I always checked on when I came downstairs in the morning. I haven't been able to bring myself to clean out her tank and must have gone automatically to check it a dozen times today. The last week or so she was obviously growing worse and worse, and I tried all kinds of things to make her more comfortable, but yesterday I could no longer avoid the fact that I had little control over what was happening and age had finally won out. We had a horrible heat spell a month or two ago and that may have triggered her kidney/organ failure. I don't guess we'll ever know.

It was such a privilege to have her. She will never be equaled in our lives. It just goes to show you, life is precious in all its forms, we are all connected on this planet, and even a tiny, slimy little creature can immeasurably better the lives of those around her.

Reading this thread was bittersweet for me; I am so sad for your loss of your much loved friend, however, I marvel at the length of time you had to share with her! Taricha Granulosa are my favorite species of newt, and I obtained one a few years ago by accident...a boyfriend I had worked in a pet store, and there was a T. Grans, a paddletail newt, and some fire belly newts all living with tropical fish. I knew in my gut it was a wrong set up, so he took them all home, and I made three habitats for all three species. All the newts thrived, but the T.Grans, who I named flip because he was missing a middle finger, go figure was so personable! They really do appear as if they are vying for our attention! I had Flip for a few years, absolutely loved him, and was very sad when he passed.

I have not been able to come by any more T. Grans where I live, but I am searching, and definitely aspire to have the luck you had with keeping one for so long!

I remember my Flip all the time and his happy tank antics...I hope you remember Cutie with a smile!

Kara this is so very kind of you. Not a day goes by I don't think of Cutie; she was a true gem. I still have her tank (cleaned out) on the kitchen counter with a picture of her in it.
She sounds like she was very much like your Flip. I too would love to have another T.Grans someday, and you're right, they are hard to come by. Such personalities!

(I see that you live in Windsor, Ont. I was born in Oakville, though now live in the States. My sister is in Pickering and her son went to university in Windsor.)

Absolutely LOVE the name Flip, btw.

Thanks so much for posting.

I'm sorry for your loss. A magnificent 20 years with your newt, no doubt

CutiesMom said:

I euthanized my little newt a few minutes ago. I feel terrible. I am crying as I write this. It was awful. I had come down to her tank and she was floating upside down on the bottom, motionless. I thought she was dead. I went outside and dug a little hole and got a box and put a note in it, then some paper towels. When I came back to the tank she was still upside down on the bottom, and her limbs were waving feebly. She had been getting gradually worse but this was too much to bear. I called my husband down and put the ethyl alcohol bath together--one and a half cups and two ounces of straight vodka. We put her in it, right side up, and she lifted her head out of the water. She didn't seem to be getting anaesthesized at all, so after a little while I added more vodka. She was still moving, holding her head out of the water. I ended up putting in about six ounces of water, holding my hand a few inches over her head to shade it from the light. I suppose eventually I gave up but I couldn't see her head and we were both crying. It seemed to take ages. We buried her out front under our dogwood tree and I feel like a murderer. I killed something I truly truly loved. I can't get out of my mind the picture of her lifting her little head out of the alcohol bath. I am just so sad and I am going to miss her--we both are--so very very much.

Click to expand...

I was looking through Caudata trying to find answers to a health issue my friends newts have, and I came upon this...

That's awful... I am so, so, sorry you had to go through this. <3

My rough-skinned newt Fluffy is also around 30 years old, and he is suffering bloat too. I'm pretty sure he's dying, and it's breaking my heart. II am at my wit's end with what to do. So, I very much feel your pain at losing your newt Cutie. Trust that you did the right thing.

Fluffy has been with me ever since someone brought him to me in a paper bag after they found him wandering on the bike-path. (I had several newts at the time, so people would bring newts and salamanders to me for care.) He's been with me through so many phases of life, living in Eugene OR, San Francisco, and Portland OR, in 6 different houses and a few different tanks.

Anyway, not sure what else I can do at this point but prepare for the inevitable. I feel lucky to have had so many years with him.