Skinny C. pyrrhogaster

[slowfoot]

I'm not really sure what's going on with this newt, but she (most likely she) has been really thin for the 20+ years we've had her (her name is actually 'Skinny'). I've only just recently gotten her back ~ 4 weeks ago or so, and I've obviously been trying all the usual things: feeding her lots of good quality food, separating her from Fatty, her sister newt. However, she remains skinny.

She eats voraciously, and has done so for as long as we've had her. Anyone have any ideas? Her poop looks perfectly normal. I've watched her consume mass quantities of food

I'll try to get a picture, but she's a wiggler. She doesn't look like a deathly skinny newt, just skinny, certainly thinner than any other pyrrhogaster I've ever seen.

 

[Scorpion]

Maybe she has anemia? lol. Just throwing ideas out there.

 

[Azhael]

Pff....parasites...cancer? If you had said this was a recent event i would have suggested old age, but if it´s been going on for years, it seems much more likely it´s something else. I wish i could be of more help.

 

[slowfoot]

I figured it was a long shot I would say parasites, too, but it's been over 20 years! You'd think there might be some changes in parasite load or that Fatty would get infected too... Maybe it will just remain a newt mystery.

 

[Azhael]

I don´t know nearly enough about caudate parasitosis so i fear any attempt at a response from my part is pretty worthless. However, if parasites are involved fluctuations in parasite load may not necessarily be expected if the animal is otherwise "healthy". Many parasites are able to achieve a certain equilibrium with their hosts. You should expect fluctuations if the inmune system is compromised by stress or some other vulnerability. Wild animals, as far as i know (which again, is not saying much) usually have relatively stable parasite loads.

You could try to get a feces sample and get it checked, even if it´s just to eliminate possibilities.

 

[ahritchie]

If the newt has been this size 20+ years and is still active and eating well; I would not be very concerned...you're obviously doing something right More than likely it's just the natural range of size/shape/metabolism between individuals of the same species. With nature, no two snowflakes (or newts) are alike. Pictures would help though to show just how skinny Skinny is :wacko: