My Spanish Ribbed newt is not eating

[Maeve]

My older female Spanish Ribbed Newt has had trouble eating for quite a long time now, almost a year I think. She is so skinny compared to my other fat newts. She is about 10 which is fairly old. I got her and her 3 tank mates second hand. 2 of them are young and her and another female are older but the other one acts just the same as the young male and female. It all started when she lost her arm and it had all been downhill from their. We don’t quite know what happened but it may have been an accident with the cat. Her arm has fully regenerated but her apatite didn’t come back. I hand feed her frozen brine shrimp and blood worms, sometimes she snaps at them but with so little force that I don’t think she swallows any, and sometimes she is completely indifferent to the food. She also doesn’t seek it out. I’m afraid she hasn’t eaten anything big for a year and I’m worried.

 

[KrabzAga]

Have you tried feeding something like an earthworm or night crawler? The wiggling could trigger it's appetite.

 

[Maeve]

Have you tried feeding something like an earthworm or night crawler? The wiggling could trigger it's appetite.

Yes that’s what I feed my other ones. But she is never interested in even the small ones. Even when she does bite at them she spits it back out.

 

[Maeve]

I think she’s just old and reaching the end of her days. Today it’s gotten worse and she’s lost feeling in one of her legs. Their is a bubble around it and she’s trying to take it off. I suppose in the wild they would never get this old. Their is no such thing as a newt vet right?

 

[Maeve]

Update we are going to euthanize her. It’s gotten worse and she is just in to much constant pain with no sight of recovery. First we are fridging her for a day to calm and slow her down into torpor. Then while she’s asleep we will put her in the deep freeze.

 

[lepetit]

Hello, I am not the best person to answer you but if it has not been hibernating for a long time, it is possible that it is just that, a natural need to cleanse the organism and fast, which is usually done once a year but sometimes it is difficult to do at home.
I hope it gets better.

 

[Maeve]

Hello, I am not the best person to answer you but if it has not been hibernating for a long time, it is possible that it is just that, a natural need to cleanse the organism and fast, which is usually done once a year but sometimes it is difficult to do at home.
I hope it gets better.

We have been hoping she would get better for a year now and it’s just gotten worse, And do you mean her leg?

 

[lepetit]

I don't want anything to happen to your newt because of bad advice, but seeing the fate that awaits it, I dare to express my opinion. I mean that all newts have to hibernate. This is a process of internal regeneration that they achieve through rest and fasting, believe it or not. You have to find them a suitable environment for their species and not disturb them for a long time. As for the paw, I can't tell you, I don't see anything strange in the pictures. It was my understanding that newt wounds heal by themselves.

 

[Maeve]

I don't want anything to happen to your newt because of bad advice, but seeing the fate that awaits it, I dare to express my opinion. I mean that all newts have to hibernate. This is a process of internal regeneration that they achieve through rest and fasting, believe it or not. You have to find them a suitable environment for their species and not disturb them for a long time. As for the paw, I can't tell you, I don't see anything strange in the pictures. It was my understanding that newt wounds heal by themselves.

If the situation was indeed that minor I would let her be in the tank but she is in real bad shape man. If I let her keep living in pain like this I’d be surprised if she lived anyway, and even if she does it’s just going to keep getting worse. She has also reached a good age as ribbed newts often don’t live past 10 in captivity.