Illness/Sickness: Grey (?) spots on fire belly newt

[loublue]

Hi! I have no good vets around when it comes to amphibians, so I'm asking here. And I'm also very sorry for the bad quality of the pictures, I didn't have a better camera.
But I'm hoping you might still have a clue about what this is. First I just saw one small discoloured area/spot on her tail, now it's on her back too and I have no idea what it is. And if you know, what can I do about it?

She seems healthy otherwise.

Thank you.

 

[Chinadog]

Its hard to say from those pictures, but apart from being very thin nothing jumps out at me as looking wrong. What species is it?

 

[Canecorsonewt]

Hi i cant tell what type of substrate you have but it looks like small gravel. If so he could choke on it or block up its intestine.

 

[loublue]

Its hard to say from those pictures, but apart from being very thin nothing jumps out at me as looking wrong. What species is it?

Yes, she's been having problems swallowing food some days and regurgitates it, which is worrying. But she does have appetite. She's 22 years old now though. I've never managed to figure out what kind of fire belly she is but from what I can tell from pictures and descriptions it seems most likely that she is a japanese fire belly.

So I shouldn't be worried about the discoloured areas? I was wondering if it might have something to do with age?

 

[loublue]

Hi i cant tell what type of substrate you have but it looks like small gravel. If so he could choke on it or block up its intestine.

That's correct that it is gravel! And I just recently found out how dangerous that is, so I'm planning to buy sand instead or have nothing at all.

 

[Chinadog]

Yes, she's been having problems swallowing food some days and regurgitates it, which is worrying. But she does have appetite. She's 22 years old now though. I've never managed to figure out what kind of fire belly she is but from what I can tell from pictures and descriptions it seems most likely that she is a japanese fire belly.

So I shouldn't be worried about the discoloured areas? I was wondering if it might have something to do with age?

Japanese firebellies seem more variable in coloration than the Chinese ones, which are normally almost black. The skin tone of some of my Japanese Firebellies seems to be altering constantly as they get older, but if you've never noticed anything before there's a chance it could be something more sinister. You're not giving us much to go on though, it's almost impossible to offer any meaningful advice without half decent pictures or even knowing for sure what species it is. I'll help if I can, but you need to help out as well!

 

[loublue]

Japanese firebellies seem more variable in coloration than the Chinese ones, which are normally almost black. The skin tone of some of my Japanese Firebellies seems to be altering constantly as they get older, but if you've never noticed anything before there's a chance it could be something more sinister. You're not giving us much to go on though, it's almost impossible to offer any meaningful advice without half decent pictures or even knowing for sure what species it is. I'll help if I can, but you need to help out as well!

No, I've never noticed anything like this before or close to it. She has always been a kind of brown/dark brown colour. I will see if I can get ahold of a better camera to get some good pictures. I am also pretty sure after your information and reading on the internet that she is a japanese fire belly, but I can't say that I'm 100% sure.

Thank you for trying to help me! I will be back when I have some better pictures.

 

[Sith the turtle]

Here, this should be helpful in the meantime while we wait for better photos: Caudata Culture Articles - Firebelly

 

[loublue]

Here, this should be helpful in the meantime while we wait for better photos: Caudata Culture Articles - Firebelly

Thank you, I was reading there earlier. I feel pretty sure mine is a japanese fire belly, but I think you people would know better. Here is an older but better picture of her, maybe you can see what kind she is?

Also, I will put up better pictures of her early tomorrow when I have a better camera available.

 

[Chinadog]

Yes, certainly a Japanese firebelly, certainly a she as well.
The throwing up thing sounds a bit worrying to be honest, but lets wait 'till we have some better pics of her skin and go from there.
We've no way of knowing how old she was when yo first got her, but twenty odd years isn't actually that old for a well cared for Japanese firebelly, so hopefully she'll be with you for a good while yet.

 

[loublue]

Yes, certainly a Japanese firebelly, certainly a she as well.
The throwing up thing sounds a bit worrying to be honest, but lets wait 'till we have some better pics of her skin and go from there.
We've no way of knowing how old she was when yo first got her, but twenty odd years isn't actually that old for a well cared for Japanese firebelly, so hopefully she'll be with you for a good while yet.

How do you see for sure it's a she? I was always unsure about that part as well.
Actually I wasn't the one who bought her, I took her in as a last resort from a relative because she was about to starve to death. But I've assumed (to make it easy) that she was 1 year old when they bought her, even though there's a big risk that's incorrect like you said. I've read they can get around 20-25 years old, so I thought she was maybe at her final stage about now. How long can they live? That's great to hear!

 

[Chinadog]

Generally speaking males will have longer toes, a line of dark spots along each side of their tail and their body shape is a little different to the girls.
You can see what I mean in this thread.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...ideo-gallery/79697-pyrrho-pride-parade-2.html

 

[loublue]

Generally speaking males will have longer toes, a line of dark spots along each side of their tail and their body shape is a little different to the girls.
You can see what I mean in this thread.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...ideo-gallery/79697-pyrrho-pride-parade-2.html

I see, good to know! Here are two close up pictures. I'm talking about the two black spots on her back. She also has other areas that are discoloured but the discolouring itself doesn't show well on camera, the spots do though. Maybe I'm worrying over nothing, but I've never seen this before.

 

[Chinadog]

I can see what you mean now, is the grey part the skin surrounding each black spot? As it is at the now, I'd just keep a close eye on the spots and see if anything changes, it doesn't look like anything to worry about at the moment. she's under weight so maybe she's just generally run down and out of condition or It could just be age related as disease would seem unlikely if she lives alone? I will have a close look at my adult Japs at feeding time and see if I can see anything similar.
I would certainly try to pack some weight back on her, some nice juicy earthworms from the garden should do the trick if she'll eat them?

 

[loublue]

I can see what you mean now, is the grey part the skin surrounding each black spot? As it is at the now, I'd just keep a close eye on the spots and see if anything changes, it doesn't look like anything to worry about at the moment. she's under weight so maybe she's just generally run down and out of condition or It could just be age related as disease would seem unlikely if she lives alone? I will have a close look at my adult Japs at feeding time and see if I can see anything similar.
I would certainly try to pack some weight back on her, some nice juicy earthworms from the garden should do the trick if she'll eat them?

Yes, but the grey parts are also without black spots on some parts of her body too. I just saw another black spot on the side of her stomach. She does indeed live alone, but I've been having problems with detritus worms since I bought some new plants so I'm thinking maybe something more came with the plants.
I've been hesitating to feed her earthworms just because I'm a softy, difficult to cut them up while they're still alive and so on, haha.. But I'll definitely try to feed her with those if that's what it takes for her to gain back weight again, seems like a good idea! Thanks so much for your help.

I'll give an update when things get better or worse.

 

[Niels D]

Detritus worms aren't a problem for your animal or the quality of the water. If you find smaller worms you don't need to cut them. If you find a worm that's half of the total length of your animal, it can be given as food. Newts can manage large prey. If available, you can buy some wax worms (Galleria Mellonella or Achroia grisella) for some power feeding.

 

[loublue]

Detritus worms aren't a problem for your animal or the quality of the water. If you find smaller worms you don't need to cut them. If you find a worm that's half of the total length of your animal, it can be given as food. Newts can manage large prey. If available, you can buy some wax worms (Galleria Mellonella or Achroia grisella) for some power feeding.

No, they're only unpleasant to look at. I was just thinking maybe the plants brought something (else?) with them.
She has been having trouble swallowing food, and it seems like the bigger the food is the harder it is for her to swallow it, so that's why I'm a little worried about giving her whole worms. Thank you for the suggestion though, I will look for those.

 

[Niels D]

A Paramesotriton who has problems with swallowing could be a cause for concern, because they normally can swallow a tire iron. Maybe a trip to a vet isn't a bad idea.

 

[loublue]

A Paramesotriton who has problems with swallowing could be a cause for concern, because they normally can swallow a tire iron. Maybe a trip to a vet isn't a bad idea.

I would've visited a vet a long time ago if there were any good ones around, but there's not. The last time I asked for advice from a vet close to me about my newt they told me to put her in a bowl with warm water.
And if I drive her to one I'm afraid she'll get more stressed out by that than what it's worth. The truly good ones in this country are very far away from me.

PS: I think the swallowing problem didn't start until an incident with a long hair that she had swallowed. It had gotten stuck to the bit of food that she swallowed and she couldn't get it out herself, I let her try for a while before I decided to step in. So I had to drag it out and the whole bit of food came out with it. I believe that process might have damaged something inside her body.