Illness/Sickness: Pachytriton Eye Issue

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rachaelh

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Hey everyone,
I have a 13 year old Pachytriton. Lately I have noticed that he seems as though he has gone blind. He frequently swims into objects, cannot see his food even if it right in front of his face, and now spends most of his time in hiding and rarely swims to the surface. This has been going on for a couple of months. About 2 weeks ago, I noticed that his right eye has gone white. There are no signs of fungus anywhere else on him or his tank mate. I am wondering if it may just be an injury to the eye? Opinions?

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I apologize for the blurry images, he is difficult to get a good picture of.
 
Hi, I don't think I can help much with the eye issue, but I added the age of your newt to the CC longevity article:
Caudata Culture Articles - Longevity

Since it's just one eye, this narrows down the possibilities, most likely being injury or infection. If the tankmate is also a paddletail, they do tend to injure each other, though this is unlikely to be in the form of an eye injury.
 
The tankmate is a Xenopus laevis. They've been housed together for 12 years with no aggression issues whatsoever. A closer look at the eye makes me suspect an injury. I think it may be because of his failing vision and bumping into tank decor. Any suggestions for what I can do for the eye or to make his life a little easier with his vision issues?
 
I was also hoping for feeding suggestions. Not only does he seem blind, but he also doesn't seem to be able to locate food through smell. He frantically searches for the food when I drop it into the tank, but swims right over it. It can even touch his body and he doesn't notice. When he does find food (which is more and more rare now), he eats voraciously. I am worried he isn't getting enough to eat, but don't know how to help him. :confused:
 
One thing that you can do is feed him with tweezers. Possibly chop up small earthworms and place the food in front of his mouth. Might be worth a try.
 
I have a Taricha that cannot find food on her own. She has to be hand-fed. I use 14 inch tongs to feed all my critters.
 
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  • FragileCorpse:
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    FragileCorpse: I also asked this as an actual question in a thread in case anyone wants to answer it there... +1
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