Illness/Sickness: Sick Paddletail newt

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EmilyCoren

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I have a relatively new Paddletail newt. I adopted him just a few weeks ago and am very new to newt care. He's acting shy and hiding in dark spots under rocks, he's very hard to get a good look at. He especially likes hiding near his water filter.

He did eat when I first got him, but he's so slow/shy I'm not sure if he's eating or not. He certainly has plenty of opportunities.

I noticed last night that his skin looked bumpy. This happened suddenly. I'm worried about him.

What should I do?

Any suggestions are appreciated,
~Em
 
Did you get him from a private seller or a pet shop?
It's not surprising that he's hididng, this is what paddletails spend pretty much all of their time doing.
Keep offering him as many different suitable foods as possible - bloodworms, earthworms etc.
Could you please post a picture of him so we can get a better idea of whether or not anything is wrong?
 
I've attached 2 images of him. I got him from a local pet store on Feb 2nd, he was already missing his right front leg.
 

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That seems like a pretty small tank, and your water is much too shallow. These guys are large and active species and need a lot of space (this also helps with your water quality).

Have a look at the caresheet and see if that helps you with your set up.

Also, if you don't have a lid on the tank, you need to get one yesterday. Salamanders are surprisingly adept at climbing up the sides of the tank and escaping, never to be found again (or found as a mummy weeks later).
 
I agree with Kaysie - if that's your whole tank you need to put him in something bigger, with plenty of hides.
Definitely get something with a lid - one of mine showed an amazing ability to climb up to the top of her feeding bowl, luckily it was covered, so she didn't start touring my room.

He doesn't look particuarly underweight to me, so I wouldn't worry too much about the eating, he might just be eating when he's alone, these guys can be really shy.

I can't see any sign of bumps on his skin, does he still have them?
 
Definitely needs a bigger tank, and nice places to hide. He's looks pretty healthy and his wound is clean at the moment so the faster you act in setting up a suitable tank for him the better. If not it could go downhill quickly. I also can't see any bumps.
 
Ten gallon glass aquariums run about 12-13 bucks at Walmart, and will make a great home for your little friend. I hope you have a good long friendship with your new buddy!
 
That is only a tiny corner of his tank! He has a 20 gallon tank all to himself, with almost half a foot of water in it. He just happened to like hanging out in that corner. Yes, his skin is still bumpy. No, I can't seem to get a good picture. He has tons of places to hide! He has a dozen assorted river rocks and plenty of plants to play in. Yes, the lid has a top to it! I took it off temporarily to try to get a better picture.
 
EmilyCoren said:
That is only a tiny corner of his tank! He has a 20 gallon tank all to himself, with almost half a foot of water in it. He just happened to like hanging out in that corner. Yes, his skin is still bumpy. No, I can't seem to get a good picture. He has tons of places to hide! He has a dozen assorted river rocks and plenty of plants to play in. Yes, the lid has a top to it! I took it off temporarily to try to get a better picture.
Click to expand...


LOL....no need to get all defensive...the other posters were simply trying to help you (details about the setup are helpful in the original post for future reference). :wacko: 20 gallon tank is fine....6 inches of water is a little low however for this species; it would certainly not hurt to add more water as previously suggested. I also have a paddletail and yes, they are very shy..completely normal to be hiding most of the time. I would not worry about him too much as long as he is eating good. good luck!
 
NOW I see it. Sorry! I would recommend ditching the little glass beads, since he could pinch between them. You don't really need anything on the bottom, just some nice rocks for him to hang out on.

Really good hiding places include terra-cotta flower pots that are cut in half and set on their sides. They're a favorite of many species.
 
I'm not looking for tank design improvements. His set-up is fine. He's up and swimming this afternoon. Although my camera is not good at macro and I still don't have a good photo of his skin. But his skin looks bumpy, little tiny bumps, raised, about 1mm each, evenly scattered over his body. I don't remember seeing those when I got him.

I turned his aquarium chiller off yesterday, and this is the most active I've seen him in days.

I'm wondering if it could be chytridiomycosis or some other fungal infection. Those are threshold dependent, and like cooler temperatures, it might explain why he's more active at a slightly warmer temperature.

Any thoughts on this?
 
The closest I've seen to bumps on mine are little wrinkles, but it usually means they're shedding.

The increase in activity in yours could be him thinking that it's spring (and thus, breeding season) due to the sudden increase in temperature.

I can't comment on the possibility of fungus, it's not my area of expertise.

My apologies for commenting on the tank design, I didn't know what the ful setup looked like.
 
I got an ok photo finally, this is what he looks like...
 

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I can't say I have seen that before, has he been behaving differently since the bumps appeared?
 
He was hiding a lot. He's too new in our house, for me to have an accurate behavioral baseline. He came out today. I turned his chiller off yesterday. They may or may not be related events. I do think he is sick.

I have no idea what to do for him. I'm still trying to find a vet who knows amphibians.
 
That´s definitely not normal. The most similar thing i´ve seen to that are the bumps caused by parasitic mites that burrow under the skin. I have never heard of it happening in Pachytriton and i would have thought it unlikely given that they are fully aquatic. Keep searching for a vet, i´m afraid getting a biopsy done is possibly the only way to know what´s happening.

I know you said you are not looking for advice on aquarium design, but it does look like it could be substantially improved. For one thing, the glad pebbles are only going to cause trouble in the future, you can depend on that. Also, the more water you have the more stable and easy to maintain its quality it will be. I strongly recommend that you increase the water level to take full advantage of the available volume. Given that your newt´s inmune system has stuff to fight, a larger volume of water will reduce stress and improve its chances.
 
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My guess would be he picked up mites from another tank inhabitant at the pet shop.
 
I suposse. Have those mites been recorded on aquatic species? I think i´ve only heard of them on terrestrial ones, though.
 
However we all know there are many causes of lumps and bumps in amphibians, and a culture would be the only way to differentiate what is actually occurring.
 
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