N. viridescens nearly bait!!!

[deliriah]

My downstairs neighbor went fishing today, and their daughter knows about my love of salamanders. A friend of theirs caught this poor newt and tried to use him as bait. after sticking the hook thrrough his back my neighbor's daughter convinced him not to do it and they brought the poor thing to me to see if I could save him. He seems to be doing ok. and the wound from the hook is nott very deep. But he sat there awhile after he settled into the temporary setup, and I noticed he was twitching his tail in a way I've never seen my other two do before. As for tonight he is in the fridge. I just want to know if there is anything else I can do to ease his discomfort. I've never had to deal with this type of injury before. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Jennewt]

Do you have the newt in water? If so, it might be better to keep it on wet paper towels instead of water, just to reduce the contact of water/bacteria with the wounded area. I'm sure if you took it to a vet they'd use some sort of antibiotics to prevent infection, but in terms of first aid you're doing the right things. Be careful that your fridge is at a reliable temperature and no risk of freezing.

 

[Ltdanicecream]

What happened to this poor newt?

 

[deliriah]

Sorry for not updating. Thanks for the advise Jennewt. I did as you said and he is doing well. He seems to have a bit of a dark spot (scar?) where his wound was but it healed up quickly and beautifully otherwise. He is eating well and very active. I have had him in his own temporary setup now for about two weeks, and I am planning to move him into my larger N.v.v. setup this week. Thanks again for the advise and concern.

 

[misslyss]

Ah I remember reading this thread! SO happy he survived!!

 

[Ltdanicecream]

yeah this is great

but I just gave my blue spotted salamander to a friend of mine who is an avid fisherman. I'd better clear up what he can and cannot do with that salamander... It was his first caudate and he likes it so maybe I can convince him of the wrongs of using newts as bait. He just uses worms or lures, but I dont want anything bad happening..

 

[deliriah]

Oh I hope he wouldn't! I fish too, and so does my boyfriend, but we ONLY use worms or lures. NEVER caudates!

 

[Ltdanicecream]

yeah haha the worst I've used was a live minnow that another fisherman gave me when he was leaving. horrible experience and I didnt catch junk with it!!

 

[deliriah]

I'm famous for catching nearby trees, branches, power lines, bushes and so on. Anything that gets in my way. Other than that I'm lucky if I catch a couple pumpkinseed.