Gulping ,sickly granulosa

[gord]

I've had a granulosa that's not been well for several weeks.He'd been in quarantine with another one I bought in May and seemed to be doing ok, and was eating ok. Not great. In August I moved these 2 in with my long term pair, and one instantly made it self at home. This other one just crawled up on land and did nothing.Now its gulping and refuses to eat. Even the wiggliest worm is ignored. It's losing weight and I've quarantined it again.

Should I force feed it? I've never tried, and am afraid of hurting the newt,but it is headed for anorexia fast. It still has enough meat on its bones to get well.

And does anyone know what the gulping means?

Should I put it in small land enclosure for now?
It is in a 5 gallon 50/50 set up.

Thoughts?

Gord

 

[pin-pin]

Hey Gord,

Now that it's stopped eating, it might be worthwhile to take a sample of the fecal matter to the vet to see if there are any infection (yes, not eating = not producing poop, but try to put it in a container with wet unbleached paper towels and sometimes you can get enough for a sample.)

I'm not sure about the gulping.

Hope it pulls through.

 

[gord]

pin pin:

Sorry about the double thread..just trying to get help.

I've decided to do a salt bath and dirt quarantine.I think the lumps may be skin infection.

The gulping is a bit baffling.

I'm going to try this and see what happens.

Gord

 

[ester]

Heya Gord,
do you have any pictures of the skin problems and the gulping?

Make sure you offer a good hiding spot, they do like to hide when they're not feeling well.
Have you tried wax moth larvae?

I have a few taricha with lumps on their skin, I suspect it's a kind of mite but it doesn't seem to bother them. I am hoping that a cold winter might help get rid of the lumps. I remember an observation from Nate about mite infestations of slimy newts. Something about slimies not having as many mites or even no mites at all early in the season.

If you try to force feed, I can give you some suggestions. I had to force feed a taricha of mine earlier this year.

Ester

 

[gord]

Ester:

Thanks for your thoughts.I now have this guy in a closed dirt container with hides.Im hoping a change in venue and a little quiet may help.I gave him one salt bath to see what will happen.

I've thrown in some small earthworms in case it gets its appetite back.

I'll take pics if the problem persists.

I'm not going to force feed yet,but if I do i'll ask for help.

Gord