Illness/Sickness: My Firebelly newt's foot has rotted off and he has white spots on his limbs/tail.

[FireBelly]

I'm assuming it's fungus. I did a search and read about antibacterial pellets for tanks and salt baths. I have started the salt baths but not gotten any tank pellets yet.

Another problem and I'm assuming this is related to the fungus, he hasn't eaten in a long time. He's super skinny.

The only thing I didn't get new in my tank were some live plants (Aquarium, Los Angeles) so I'm assuming it came from that, which kind of peeves me off.

So I put him in quarantine (my other newt in the tank is fine) and put in some chopped earthworm. Is there anything else I should be doing?

 

[oregon newt]

What are your parameters?

 

[FireBelly]

Tank's probably a little lower than room temp and I'm assuming it's cycling. I could test pH and temp for sure but how would that help me know what to do?

 

[Jennewt]

From what you said, I assume this is a brand new tank, and newly-acquired newts? This kind of problem is very common, and I would not blame the plants. Wild-caught firebelly newts go through hell getting here from China, and many get sick, either at the pet store, or shortly after they are purchased. Limb rot is very common.

Keep them both as cool as possible. This has some ideas for treatment:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/illness.shtml

 

[findi]

Concerning the very good recommendations in the article referred to by last writer, I've used Methelyn Blue on a wide variety of unidentified fungi with good results (works on eggs as well)...when treating amphibians with fish medications, it is always safest to start with 1/2 dose recommended for fish, as amphibiands absorb the medication over a much greater surface area than do fish...m. blue is safe to use at full strength, however. Keep the animal at it's preferrred temperature when medicating, below 70 F if possible in your case.

Refrigeration at 40 F may be worth a try also, but probably best not to use medication while the animal is being refrigerated.

I have some amphibian health/medication articles posted at:
http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatreptileblog

 

[FireBelly]

Yes what you said makes sense because I purchased 3. One died within the first few days because he wouldn't eat. Now this. I had 3 when I was a kid and never had a problem. It sucks watching them suffer.

Thanks for the advice.