Newt lost his leg-any treatment?

[patty]

I recently added two newts to my tank with one newt in it. One died within a couple of days from a fast growing fungus. The other one started losing his left front leg (no idea how) and it was completely off by yesterday. I have been posting everywhere to see what I can do to help the healing(if anything). Here is a link to how he looked before it fell off.
http://prexrode.photosite.com/Album1/IMG_0007.html
I received one answer from one forum advising me to put neosporin on it. I have applied that a couple of times now. He is eating normally and seems like he's ok in general. What about infection? Can newts live without legs? Do they grow back? The LFS where I got him from had about 15-20 newts in a big tank and about 8 or 9 of them were dead and missing their legs. The guy helping me said that one of the frogs were eating them. I don't think they will be much help to me. Anyway, any help will be greatly appreciated. I know they are in a small tank, I will be moving them back into a larger tank soon. The one I had originally never goes in the water, and never seems to eat. I have tried Daphnia, blood worms, earthworms, tubifex worms. He won't eat. Any suggestions there I'll be grateful for also.

 

[paris]

well...if you think about it-why did he loose the leg in the first place? you say the other got fungus and died-i suspect (im drawing from experience here) he was sick to start with. the dead newts in the tank wouldnt die directly from an arm getting bit off-they were in bad care. the tank probably hasnt been cleaned for a long time, filtration(if any) may not be maintained-so the water could be a virtual cess pool, and i am sure they arent kept at proper temperatures-the tank was ripe with infection, the leg fell off because of an infection crawling up from the wound-till the leg falls off. you will have to keep an eye on it to make sure it wont spread more-just cause 1 part falls off doesnt mean the infection is gone with it. if he is kept cool and gets treated on a regular basis -there is a good possibility you can stop the 'rot'. many people see the leg/body wounds as point source of infection, in my experience they are symptoms of a systemic condition, so dont just treat the wound-treat the newt. one thing to set your mind at rest-get a thermometer -make sure it is calibrated(alot of the ones in pet stores have 'play' in them-so pick one that seems to agree with most of them)- use this to make sure the tank temp is not at a dangerous level-the target for these is below 70 F, some can do fine at that temp or a little above-but they are more likely to get ill from things they can normally fend off -at higher temps bacteria reproduces faster and a heat stressed newt is more vulnerable, just assume a newt off the pet trade is sick and give them the best to start-so they can overcome it. some flippant keepers (usually new ones)just blow tank temps off as 'oh its not warm in there-its cool here'-but the human body is not a reliable judge of air temp, and air temp is not what it is in the water/land section of an enclosed glass tank. see the care sheet on caudate culture for orientalis, take notice of the advice on land use-my experience is that wet newts return to water quite frequently and once in water they get more of an appetite since they are excited by the smell (on land they only hunt by sight -so non moving food doesnt do well on them-unless you train them to take it from you).

rest assured -if he recovers well the leg will grow back..sometimes even with extra fingers or odd joints added. as to getting him to eat-keeping him shallow aquatic will help if he hasnt lost the urge all together. how have you been offering him food? (which foods/what method?)

 

[patty]

Actually, the pet store where I got him from maintains their tanks. They're really well known for their large assortment of exotic animals.
Anyway, I have offered earthworms (chopped into pieces on a tweezer), freeze dried bloodworms (on a tweezer), freeze dried daphnia. I also sprinkle the freeze dried food into the water. The other newt (minus the leg) eats anything I put in there. I am going to try frozen bloodworms.
Thanks for all your advice.

 

[heather]

Hello Patty,
Im having a very similar problem, the leg seemed to swell up and then start o rot.We were worried about the infection or whatever it was so we amputated his infeced arm. Now i am seeing the early signs again in another leg. I find it very sad, i think we are just going to put him to sleep, I cant cut off another} leg...

}My two healthy fire bellies love brine shrimp but hey wont eat anyting else.

 

[edward]

Heather, I think Paris addressed the situation sufficiently in her response above your post.

Ed

 

[heather]

I know, I just wanted to let Patty know that she isnt alone in this, there are alot of other people having this problem, like me, and a while ago there was another guy's newt with the same problem...

 

[patty]

Heather, thanks for getting back to me.

Actually, I think he might be ok. I received responses in another forum also. I didn't know that newts grew their limbs back! (I must have missed that in Paris's post) Someone included links to info on newts and one included a video (time-advanced) of a newts leg growing back. It's really amazing. Check it out.
http://www.luc.edu/depts/biology/dev/regen2.htm

Anyway, like you and Paris said, I'm finding out that newts come down with infections and funguses just like fish due to poor water quality, etc. I'm new to newts, so I'm still learning. I'm going to try the brine shrimp. I just bought some frozen blood worms. The newt didn't really go for them, but all my fish did. Thanks again.

(Message edited by pookerpics on November 22, 2004)

(Message edited by pookerpics on November 22, 2004)