Illness/Sickness: Film over one eye, inflated throat

[Babidi]

My CO, a roughly 8-year-old presumed-male who has a noticeable spinal kink has what looks like a film over one of his eyes. It's whitish, giving his eye a somewhat cloudy appearance, but doesn't seem to affect his vision. He still turns his head to pay attention on that side. He's had this cloudiness for a few months now, though it never seems to affect him. What could it be?

He's also been shedding quite often recently, about once per week for the past few weeks or so, if not just a bit less. He has considerable difficulty doing it because of his kink and curled-up tail, as well as his back legs being fairly heavily inconvenienced by that kink. Otherwise, he sheds fairly easily, and eats his skin still. He eats food that's offered to him with a little bit of caution, but still eats quite well nonetheless.

For quite a long time now, a few months or more, his throat has been slightly inflated and his mouth has always been slightly agape, perhaps causing it to fill with water. He was able to suppress the inflation momentarily before it filled up again. However, very recently, it's become more prominently inflated and it tends to inflate very quickly after he deflates it now. Looking into his mouth doesn't yield any sign of fungus or abnormalities, except for a bubble that seems to be floating along the roof of his mouth.

Any ideas on any of this stuff?

 

[vistajpdf]

Have you checked out the section on sickness/illness on Caudata Culture? I'm worried about bloat for the newt and possibly an unrelated eye issue (cataracts come to mind as in other animals, not sure about newts having them though I don't see why not.)

From what I've learned, bloat can be quickly occurring or more slowly developing. It may help to consult with an exotic vet. There are a few here and many more experienced members that will hopefully more educated guesses than I have.

Good luck,
Dana

 

[Babidi]

Seems like he's gotten better out of the blue. The 'swell' has gone down back to normal again, which is just very mild. Can bloat develop really slowly? He's had this for about a year now, if not more.

 

[Nathan050793]

Can bloat develop really slowly? He's had this for about a year now, if not more.

It can, but usually it starts becoming noticeable after a while. Is the newt looking abnormally plump? Bloat is usually indicated by the entire body, particularly the neck and abdomen, being swollen.

 

[Babidi]

No, he's otherwise completely normal except for that very prominent spinal kink that he has, which has curled his entire tail up. He's had this for almost two years now though. I wonder if it's some sort of arthritis? Someone in a prior thread I made a while back suggested MBD, but also noted that the animal usually dies soon after developing it. My CO certainly hasn't and other than a very laboured walk, he still behaves like he did before it. He's quite energetic when he decides to come out of hiding, eats well, and is very prone to hiding himself when the lights are on during the day.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

Does it look like this?

http://www.caudata.org/forum/album.php?albumid=100&pictureid=4104

 

[Babidi]

A bit like that, yes. His tail is a lot more coiled up and his back is a lot more curled too. I have some pictures of him here. He's usually looking like he does in picture 1, but the last four I got had him getting pretty curled up. He's had whatever this is for going on two years now. Not sure why the white spots on his tail showed up so well in the second picture. They really aren't that prominent and they're all over his body and have been since the day I bought him. You can also kind of see that whitish film I was talking about over his eyes in these.

 

[oregon newt]

What have you been feeding him?

 

[Azhael]

Wow....poor thing...
Apart from the kink and the coiled tail, those lumps on the tail are freaky.
I see you feed it bloodworms. By the look of them they have gone bad, which is dangerous. Food should be removed if not eaten in a couple of hours, because it spoils and fouls the water. I also see you have a deep layer of gravel which coesn´t help at all. It traps debris, and bloodworms making them unreachable for the newt and allowing them to decompose.
It also has way too little water. This species is fully aquatic in captivity and requires a decent volume of water to thrive, i recomend a minimum of 38l to make maintaining water quality easy.
If you´ve only been feeding it bloodworms, then it´s likely that it´s problems are caused by a very deficitary diet.
I don´t know if you´ve already read it, but this caresheet contains very valuable information:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_orientalis.shtml

I´m sorry to say that the conditions you are providing for it are VERY inadequate. Little water, deep gravel layer, and decomposing food...it´s a water quality nightmare. Please learn the caresheet and change his tank to suit its needs....poor thing....

 

[Babidi]

Those bloodworms haven't gone bad. They only just came out of the freezer and were freshly fed just moments before the picture was taken. The colour might only be because of the low quality of the camera I was using to take the shots. The shallower layer of gravel is a good point, though.

I used to give this newt a lot of water, but to do that now would kill him. He can't swim with his back legs and tail in that manner and often sought land even when he was newly bought and fully healthy. He often alternates now between sitting in shallower places, where his back is above the water, and going into the deeper sections where he's fully submerged, so it's likely just a case of preference.

I have fed all my newts a rather constant diet of bloodworms and I've had about 20 over the years. This CO is the only one that's ever shown any signs of MBD, and after asking on these forums in the past if that was an acceptable diet, I was told it was, based on the fact that other members had done the same for their newts.

The conditions provided for this newt are tailored to him and his ailment and preferences and are not at all inadequate. The only suggestion I'll take to heart is the one of a thinner layer of gravel.

 

[NecturusLindsay]

Just out of curiosity...have you tried using any kind of an antibiotic on him? The clouded eye and throat sound like a bacterial infection to me. Bacterial infections can also cause signs of what looks like bloat. What method of filtration or tank cleaning do you use?

I had something similar happen to my mudpuppy after I bought some ellodea from a pet store and planted it in his aquarium. I rinsed it off, but apparently that was not an adequate method of sterilization..duh. He did come out of it though, after weeks of salt baths and homemade antibiotic paste!

 

[Babidi]

His tank has a Fluval 1 Plus underwater filter, with aeration. I haven't tried any antibiotics, since I'm a bit paranoid of using them. Any newt I've had in the past who's gotten to the point where I started the use of antibiotics on vet recommendation usually didn't make it through. He hasn't really shown any signs of bloat, though. His body is fairly proportionate, except for those obvious kinks, which I don't think can be helped now. He's also had the same artificial plants, rocks, and hiding spots in his tank as he's had for years. Nothing new's been introduced anytime recently.

In any case though, out of the blue, his eyes seem significantly cleared up and his throat is only slightly swollen now, as it has been for some time. The kinks still bother me, but there's probably no cure for them, and I would like his throat to go back down to normalcy, but it came when the kinks did, so it might be the same case there too.