Please help! Very swollen fire-bellied newt

[cathy]

We have a fire-bellied newt who is quite old (at least 8 years - he was given to us by someone, so exact age is unknown). We have had him 5 years and he has been healthy to this point. The past several days he has swollen up all over his body (not just abdomen). He is kept in a small tank, but his water is changed every week using bottled spring water and treated with several drops of "Aquasafe". I am careful to handle him gently so as to not damage him when his tank is cleaned. I consulted our newt manual and the only possible health problem relating to his systems seems to be "Chlamydia" infection which can cause edema, the overall swelling. As my manual suggested, I have treated his water with Tetracycline to no avail. He is still active, but I fear the worse. This is our first newt so I have little experience with them. If he is simply at the end of his life, would these symptoms seem usual? I'd like to help him if I could. Any information would be appreciated.

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[jennifer]

See:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/bloatEDK.shtml
Unfortunately, there can be a number of causes, so it's difficult to treat.

 

[cathy]

Thank you for your response. I read the article you referenced, and there's no doubt our "Nat" has "bloat". Unfortunately, he looks quite like the sad little creature in the photo. Because he is very old (at least 8, possibly 10), and has been solitary yet healthy for as long as we've had him, I am thinking perhaps he might just be at the end of his lifespan, and his kidneys have given out. Would this be a likely possibility? I think I might try the amphibian Ringer's solution mentioned in the article. At this point I don't know what else to do as our local vet doesn't treat newts. Poor ol' Nat!


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