Small scar-like wound??

[AfroNewtkeeper]

Just saw this on one of my female C. Orientalis. It's about two mm long. Should I be worried..? Is it a sore?

Edit: there's a similar (hole-like) spot on her belly, she hasn't eaten much lately, and she's in the process of shedding.

 

[Chinadog]

I'ts hard to tell from the picture but if it is a sore you should isolate her straight away to prevent the infection spreadintg. I have just finished treating one of my juveniles with a sore, it was kept on damp paper towels that were changed daily with a small hide. Treatment was salt baths twice a day along with Neosporin ointment applied once a day when his skin was pretty dry. This treatment worked for me and he made a full recovery but these types of sores are hit and miss to treat at the best of times i'm afraid.
I was working with one of my captive bred animals that continued to eat and showed no sign of stress throughout all the treatment, I'm sure this helped a lot towards his recovery, it might be different with a stressed WC newt but it's worth a try for sure!
Good luck, I hope she makes it!

 

[AfroNewtkeeper]

Alright. She's in quarantine (that plastic bowl is propped up now so it can be used as a hide) and I'll try to get better pictures of the sores once I get home from school. How long should each salt bath be, and what kind of salt should I use? Should I expect her to be in pain during the baths?

Edit: What type of Neosporin should I use? I don't want to accidentally kill her.

 

[Chinadog]

I used 2 teaspoons of sea salt per litre as per Kaysie's salt bath tutorial from the Sick axolotl section. I went for 5 minute baths twice a day and applied the Neosporin ointment around lunchtime when the newts skin was reasonably dry. My juvenile fire belly showed no sign of discomfort at all while in the salt bath but like i said mine are captive bread so there were no underlying stress issues. Azheal recommended i use the Neosporin ointment and i think that's what really killed the infection in the end so it is worth giving it a try, i'm sure the salt baths stopped it getting worse until i got hold of the cream though,so i just carried on with them to give him every possible chance of getting better!

 

[AfroNewtkeeper]

I had a picture of the one on her stomach and didn't realize. Here it is.

 

[Chinadog]

Yes, i'm afraid that's a sore. I can only suggest you try the treatment I used and hope for the best. It could be that months of living in filthy conditions at wholesalers and pet stores etc has crippled the animals immune system allowing these skin sores and maybe other problems that are less visible to take hold. Good luck with the treatment

The Neosporin i used was triple antibiotic without painkiller, it's the painkiller that's poisonous to newts.

 

[AfroNewtkeeper]

This is probably really obvious, but is Triple Antibiotic the same as Neosporin, or is it missing some important ingredients?

Edit: Wait, sorry! Didn't see your edit. Thanks!

 

[AfroNewtkeeper]

Okay, she's had her first salt bath. (Six minutes) She didn't seem to mind terribly. I offered two pieces of nightcrawler which were both refused. While she was in there, I managed to get some better pictures and discovered a third sore. Oy vey. Anyways, she'll be receiving Equate triple antibiotic as soon as she's dry.

Needless to say, I wasn't the only one who was interested...

 

[AfroNewtkeeper]

First Neosporin treatment done. The sore on her side was easy enough, but the bottom two were rather difficult to get to. I ended up with her holding on to two of my fingers, spreading them apart, and rubbing Neosporin underneath. Her underside was a little wet- hopefully that doesn't wash any away.
Oh, I also set a large ice-pack on top of the cage in an attempt to cool it off. (Was 71 F)

 

[AfroNewtkeeper]

Sorry for posting on this so often. She's currently taking two 5-min salt baths and one Neosporin treatment a day. I replace her paper towels daily, and wet them with tank water. Her tank fluctuates between 15 and 17.5 degrees Celsius, and I just added a large towel which entirely covers the tank. She hasn't eaten in at least a week, possibly more.

I've been having trouble applying Neosporin to her stomach. She won't sit still for long while on my hand, and when I can apply the Neosporin, it doesn't feel like I got much on. I have a couple questions: how much Neosporin needs to be applied? Should I set her in freshwater after salt baths? Should the baths be approx. 12 hours apart, or could that be changed by a few hours to fit my schedule?

Thanks!

 

[Chinadog]

I wasn't very rigid with the timing of the salt baths, just once in the morning and once at night. I didn't bother with freshwater afterwards, i just put him back into his tank. You could apply the Neosporin twice a day if you want, once was plenty for me because of where the sore was but i can imagine it rubs off quite quickly from the belly area.
I wouldn't worry too much about the food at the moment, perhaps offer it once a day but don't insist too much as this could cause further stress. I can see you're doing as much as possible to help her recover, I just hope it pays off!

 

[AfroNewtkeeper]

I attempted to check the other two newts for sores- as far as I can tell they have none, but they certainly don't take kindly to being flipped over, so I wasn't able to check their bellies thoroughly.
Fig's sores all appear to have gotten just slightly bigger. Starting two Neosporin treatments a day.

 

[Chinadog]

It's good your other newts don't seem to be affected, I was worried that the rest of my juveniles would go down with the same thing but it was just the one in the end.
As for the sores getting bigger it may be that the animal's immune system is no longer working properly and you lose her in the end, like i said before the sores might be the tip of the iceberg and there could be many other problems that we can't see.

 

[Chinadog]

How's the treatment going, are there any signs of things improving?

 

[AfroNewtkeeper]

Possibly, but I don't want to get my hopes up. I ordered some whiteworms from otterwoman (thanks again!) that are expected to arrive Friday. Maybe they'll entice Fig to eat.
I wasn't able to bathe fig this morning due to finals at school, and the schedule hasn't been too strict. Wednesday through Friday school lets out early, and then winter break starts, so I'll be able to give her two treatments and baths a day. I'll post comparison pictures of her sores when I get home.

 

[AfroNewtkeeper]

Here's the comparison, as well as another shot of her side. Oh, the sore on her side is the yellowish bit. The white part is Neosporin.
(From left to right: last Thursday, Sunday, and today.)

 

[Chinadog]

Its hard to tell for sure isn't it? Although the fact that the sores haven't spread or got bigger is a definite plus point. By the way well done getting the 3 comparison pictures, you must have the patients of a saint

 

[AfroNewtkeeper]

Starting to get worried. While the sores haven't advanced any more, she's really starting to look malnourished. Any ideas..? Hopefully getting whiteworms in the mail today.
Oh, and she's walking oddly. Not quite a limp, but more of a wobbling unsteadiness.

 

[Chinadog]

It doesn't look good does it? The walking funny and unsteady movement makes me think her nervous system may be affected, i'm not a vet though so its just a guess. To be honest though, she doesn't seem dangerously thin in the picture, but it's hard to tell from here. Are the sores looking like they are getting any better at all? after a week or so i could tell the sores on my juvenile pyrrho were healing. Let's just hope she eats the white worms, but it really seems like there are other things as well as the sores affecting her. The conditions these newts are kept in during the importation and then in pet stores leave them so stressed that many are literally half dead by the time they are sold to the customer. I would say carry on with the treatment and see what happens unless anyone else has any ideas?

 

[AfroNewtkeeper]

They may have gotten slightly bigger once again- not certain. Whiteworms arrived today and after setting up their culture I set a small dish of 20-30 in with Fig. We'll see if she eats any. :\