Illness/Sickness: Odd Protrusion

[varillon]

Hello everyone. One of my three fire belly newts has an odd looking swollen area under and behind his back legs. The attached picture is the best shot I could get without holding the little fellow down. At one point I noticed what looked like feces coming out, but there were many pieces like tentacles. Since I haven't noticed anything like this in the past, it has me concerned. Is this some sort of disease or nothing to worry about?

Edit: It has been several days since the last feeding, so I'm sure food has had time to pass under normal conditions.

V

 

[oregon newt]

That is your newt's cloaca and it definitely looks like you have a male. I'm thinkking the tentacles could be papillae. Check out this link Caudata Culture Articles - Sexing

 

[Azhael]

Also, you don´t have a fire belly newt, at least not what´s most commonly called firebelly newt (C.orientalis), you have a Pachytriton labiatus, or paddletail newt.

 

[varillon]

I can't believe it, but those are Papillae! There's a pic in that link of exactly what I saw. Big relief! Before posting here, I went through searches on google, but not a single place had pictures. Of course, not knowing the subject of your search doesn't help much either I guess this explains why another newt is all over my big guy. The other is likely female. I honestly didn't think these were old enough for reproduction. They've grown at least an inch since I've had them, though. Guess I'll be heading over to the breeding section of the forums to figure out what to do if I see eggs.

Thanks for clearing up the species, azhael. We only have access to a couple of pet stores in rural Arkansas, so the information is very limited and likely off.

 

[Azhael]

Sadly, this species is very hard to breed. Few people get eggs, and i don´t know of any succesfull long-term breeding.
If you have had them for a short time, that would explain the male being in breeding condition, since he might have already been before being captured. If you have had them for months, then the merit is yours, which means you are taking good care of them.

Make sure you read the caresheet for this species, i´m sure it will help:
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Pachytriton - Paddletail

 

[varillon]

Sounds good to me. I really don't have a big interest in breeding, but if it happens, I know of a guy who'd buy them to keep me from getting overrun. I read that some people just let things happen naturally, and you may end up with a few that survive.