New Paramesotriton c. in fridge

[anothernewtfan]

Bought two a few weeks ago, basically "rescued" from a pet store.

I noticed about a week ago that his mouth, mostly it was the front of the lower jaw, just didn't look right to me. This got a little worse day by day. I would describe it as looking as though it was just kind of sloughing/rotting away. So I decided to put him in a rubberrmaid dish I use for random newt ops, hehe with a section of an artificial plant in there, and enough water to cover the newt, covered it with aluminum foil and put it in the fridge. I also raised the temp in the fridge, as it might have been a little too cold the way it was.

This is the first time I have ever refrigerated a newt, but after doing a little research, it seemed the appropriate way to address this issue. The newt seems to be fine. Although it's been less than 24 hours it looks a little better. Hopefully that is not just wishful thinking.

Two quick questions. How long should it remain in the fridge? AND Should I be worried about changing the water in the bowl?
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Now I realize the newt probably had this injury at the pet store, and I might have noticed it earlier if I checked. I probably still would have bought the newt, but would have been more careful with the supplies (siphon, baster, tweezers) I dunked into their tank. This could turn into a pet shop horror story if it spreads to other tanks in my collection.

 

[Kaysie]

While I've never fridged Paramesotrition, I suspect you can treat them similarly to axolotls, given that they also come from cold waters. I don't think there's really a time limit on fridging. With axolotls, we usually recommend a couple of days to weeks, depending on what you're treating for, but some people have kept their axolotls in the fridge for months during the hot summer.

You will need to change the water in the bowl. Depending on how much water you have in the bowl, you'll need to change it daily or every other day. It's absolutely imperative that you use water that is the same temperature, so store your water for changes in the fridge as well.

 

[anothernewtfan]

Thanks Kaysie.
It was obvious tonight that I needed to suck out some waste from the bowl. Now I have some water chilling in the fridge as well.