Newt has died-need advice for surviving newt?

[Jenni85]

Hi
I got two fire belly newts about a month ago.I could not find a breeder here in the UK, so I ended up getting some from a pet shop (big mistake I know).
I made sure my set up was appropriate- de chlorinated the water using Repti-Safe, small filter,64l tank with sand and plenty of plants/somewhere for them to rest on land.

When my husband came home with the newts I noticed one had an arm missing. I kept an eye on him but could not get him to eat.The other,smaller newt was fine.

A few days ago I noticed the larger newt had swollen up slightly,and was spending more time on land.I was worried it could have been bloat,but his throat looked fine.
This morning, I found him dead in the water

I assume because of the missing limb, he may have been already sick when we got him,but I am not sure. Now I am worried for the surviving newt.
We have been having trouble keeping the water cool-it's at about 25 degrees,when it shoukd be around 21 (been using ice to try and lower the temperature ). Could this have been the cause? The surviving newt is eating but still spending a lot of time out of the water.

So what I am asking is,is there anything I should immediately do to ensure that the remaining newt survives?

Thank you for your help!

 

[Chinadog]

Hi, welcome to the site!
I'm afraid that's how a big percentage of the imported Asian newts end up. The necrotic skin sores and other problems can spread very fast through a shipment of these WC newts due to the less than perfect conditions they encounter while at the animal markets, exporters, wholesalers, petshops etc. To make matters worse its also thought that their Immune systems are greatly suppressed due to the extreme stress of it all, so the newts stand very little chance of survival once infected as their health will often deteriorate un-noticed until they are too far gone to save.

As for the other newt, all you can really do is provide perfect conditions and keep a close eye on it and be ready to treat the sores if they've spread. Antibiotics from a vet would be the best chance of curing it, but Painkiller free Neosporin ointment and/or salt baths can also work as well, although unless the newt's immune system recovers enough to take over fighting the disease itself its unlikely treatment will do any good.

The newt could be avoiding the water for a few reasons. As long as there's no fish in the same tank, conditions that aren't quite right are usually to blame. All most firebellies really need to be happy is clean, cold water that's ram packed full of fast growing plants. Chinese firebellies hate any kind of water movement, so you need to either diffuse the outlet from the filter through some koi filter sponge, or remove it all together. Given enough live plants its not really needed anyway as the plants will keep things sweet once the tank cycles

Here's how I treated one of my firebellies successfully using the neosporin, He's captive bred though, so there aren't any of the underlying stress issues as there probably will be with petstore newts.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...lp/94263-c-pyrrhogaster-illness-sickness.html

Given the right treatment, WC animals can sometimes recover from sores though, stronger drugs from the vet will give it the best chance of surviving, though.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...7-newt-salamander-help/101508-newt-wound.html

Hope this helps.