Help PLEASE! my newts are dropping like flies!!!

J

jessy

Guest
I don't know what's wrong! I've only had them a little while and I just bought them a new tank and all sorts of goodies... they JUST started eating after trying many things for over a week.. I have (had) 3 fire bellied newts and today I got in from work and one was belly up
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the other two are alive, but just barely, very lethargic, the one who died had a weird spot on it's back it looked like it's black skin was falling off and leaving whit spots underneath. What is this? what am I doing wrong? pleeeeease help! I just finally picked names for them today..
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any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm panicing!

Thanks!!
 
We need more information about the set-up Jessy. What temperature is the tank kept at? Are you keeping anything else in with the newts? Anything you can tell us would be helpful.
 
the temp is between 15 and 20 degrees celcius... they used to live with some white clouds and snails, but a couple days ago I made them their own tank and they seemed to be happy and even eating.. the only thing I've seen them eat is blood worms, and I don't think all 3 of them ate, just the one that died.... I'm not sure what else to tell you, I don't know very much about newts
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Do you have the ability to take and post pictures of the diseased? I'm afraid it's hard to determine cause of death with just words. Also, did you cycle their new tank before adding them? Did you feed them frozen bloodworms? If so, how long were they in the tank before they ate them?
 
what does it mean to cycle a tank? I cleaned it really well along with everything I put in it.
the bloodworms were frozen, but it ate them right away and then I scooped out the left overs as best I could. The odd patches on the skin showed up the day before I got the bloodworms though..

I can't post pictures.. at first it looked just like funny lighter patched of skin and I didn't realise the skin was peeling off untill I found that one belly-up and got a really good close look... I wanted to make sure he was really really dead before I put him in the garden...
 
I figured out the correct dossage of tetracycline and have mixed it in the water, alomst an hour ago.. the one that's still in the tank has perked right up, he's swimming around... but I just noticed a lighter patch like the others near his arm (untill now I thought he was clear of these) the injured newt is in a smaller quarentine and has not been active at all... I've actually given him a poke or two to make sure he's not dead...
 
see? I know nothing... I didn't even know they shed... thanks for the link
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hmm... now I'm not sure if it is just them shedding their skin, I was trying to clean out the sores on the injured one and it looked like fungus or something it was white and fuzzy.. then while I was cleaning off one of his feet a LOT of skin came off at once.. like his whole foot is white now... also I was checking the one who seems fairly healthy and now he's not using his left foot at all, it's just kind of floating behind him.. it doesn't seem to bother him, and it doesn't look bent in any funny way, just kind of limp... I'm a bad newt mummy. I really should have done a bit more research before I got into this.
 
What did you clean their tank with? Did you rinse it really well? I've heard horror stories of corrosive chemicals staying in the tank when the water was added.
 
Tetracycline is an antibiotic and doesn't work against fungus. I think you should at least start doing mild salt baths http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/salt.shtml so if it IS a fungus, you can get that taken care of and then start treating the underlying issues (if there are any). Also, like Jeff said, cycling the tank is ideal.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions
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somebody in chat had reccommended the salt bath, but that unfortunatly will have to wait untill tomorrow because all I've got is table salt so I'll have to take a trip up to the pet store.

I rinsed the tank and everything with soapy water then rinsed everything a couple more times with just tap water, it was the best I could do at the time.

I'm not at home with them right now, I'm hoping they'll be okay, I left them both in quarantine, hopefully they'll be alright untill I get back to them tomorrow, I figured there wasn't much I could do to help them tonight...

Any ideas why the healthier one's (I think I'm calling it Newty McNewt.. how bad is that? they're hard to name..) leg would suddenly seem useless?

Also I'm wondering if the bloodworms had thawed and then been re-frozen, would that make a big difference? sorry for all the questions, I'm new at this. Newty McNewt, Gympie and I thank you loads for your help! every little bit is greatly appreciated! just wish I'd been able to ask these questions before it was too late for Spazzbot
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I'm back home now, Newty looks alright, but Gympie's almost gone, I had to give him a little jab to see if he was still alive and just when I thought he was really dead he twitched his tail, hope I can get to the pet store in time...
 
Did you wash the newts with soap? If you did that was a huge mistake!
 
If you washed rocks, wood, or anything not ceramic, plastic or glass with soap that was also a mistake.
 
good to know, thanks, I didn't wash the rocks with soap, just rinsed them really well... I did you soap on the tank, it's plastic, but I rinsed it really well, I don't think it had to do with that. When I got in from work tonight I found Gympie dead, I thought he was doing better... Newty shed his skin last night, then ate it.. that was pretty gross but cool to watch, he seems to be doing alright in the tank by him self... I will deffinatly wait a couple weeks before getting another (if I do at all) what's a good amount of time to quarentine before introducing a new newt?
 
If they look healthy and eat well, at least 30 days. If they're ill, 60 days or longer.
 
great, thanks! I won't get another one for a while then.. I had no idea it would be that long. What about blood worms? I have frozen ones and I think they may have thawed and been re-frozen, are they still safe, or should I just get new ones?
 
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