READ THIS NOW!!!!!

[jeff]

Help!!! I just picked up my Taricha and a bit of his tail fell off, no white goo yet, just flesh I'm doing all I can but I have chemicals availble that I have never used on newts and I need immedate response before I do so. I will kill myself if he dies.

Medical surgical scrub antiseptic: chlorhexidine gluconate 2%

sounds effective but nasty

NEWSKIN antiseptic and protective ploymer coating: 8-Hydroxyquinoline

could be safe and add protection.

I just had the tip of his tail slip off and he doesn't look good at all. I used some tripleantibiotic beacuse the neosporin had pain relif stuff in it. Should I try the medical antiseptic??

what can I buy for the water in his new sterile setup?

(Message edited by newtsrfun on September 09, 2005)

 

[jennifer]

The "triple antibiotic" is the same as Neosporin, so that should be OK to use. Beyond that, I don't know what you should use. I assume you have seen the topical treatments mentioned in the "sores" article on CC?

When you say he "doesn't look good at all" what do you mean exactly? Was he having symptoms before this?

 

[joan]

No setup will be 'sterile'. You can boil and dechlorinate water if you're worried about biological contaminants.

(Message edited by Joan on September 10, 2005)

 

[jeff]

I called around some exoitic pets, they suggested Betadine, which is 10% povidone-iodine
The vet told me duiluting it to a tea-like color would be the only thing to really trust. I feel the liquid-bandage/antiseptic could have real use in this situation, however I am hesitent to try, it bonds up really quick and is so thin the newt wouldn't know, but I would want to know more first. Thanks Jen

 

[jeff]

A tubberware container is a "sterile setup"

I was told before to use bactine, however, bactine I thought contains benzocaine which is used to humanly kill newts, also found in orajel.

The pain killer put into some neosporin, Pramoxine hydrochloride i thought was also deadly, or was is decided that that one is safe? I can't find the old post on this.


(Message edited by newtsrfun on September 10, 2005)

(Message edited by newtsrfun on September 10, 2005)

 

[jeff]

The last vet I talked to told me that chlorhexidine is the best antiseptic, after adding enough water to make the solution safe.
I have that but only in surgical scrub(soap) form. Can anyone find that over the counter?

 

[joan]

Tupperware is not sterile. Nor can you make it sterile after introducing a newt.

Why are you in need of antibiotics/barriers? Are salt baths not adequate? I've only used neosporin on one of my animals one time, and only because I happened to witness the wound happen. All of my Triturus have lost tail tips at one time or another (they're pretty aggressive for such little guys), and I've never bothered to use anything. I've never even seen fungus on them.

(Message edited by Joan on September 10, 2005)

 

[edward]

I am a little surprised that the vet did not discuss that iodine is toxic to amphibians (and can be toxic in relatively small doses).

While not a vet I would be hesitant to use chlorhexidine or any other disinfectant that contains a surfactant as these have also been shown to be a problem for aquatic animals. Chlorhexidine can be ordered from specific suppliers do a search on froogle.

If you are working with vets I am also surprised that they did not suggest a biopsy to see if the infection was bacterial, fungal or both as this can have direct implications on how the treatment should proceed.

Some comments

Ed

 

[jeff]

You may delete this post if you wish Ed.