Traumatized CFB

[robin]

I have a tank with 4 CFBs & 1 JFB. I used to have African Dwarf Frogs in the same tank, on some bad advice, & they injured one of my CFBs. I removed the frogs & isolated the injured newt in a hospital tank. She lost a leg & regenerated it before I returned her to the communal tank. Since then (6 months or more), she refuses to enter the water, except very rarely. I never see her eat & she's gotten very thin.
Tonight I isolated her again to start trying to get her to eat. I feed everyone else an alternating diet of newt/salamander pellets & frozen bloodworms. Any advice?

 

[chris]

Try live earthworms. If she wants to be on land, let her to reduce stress. If you can't find worms small enough, cut large ones into small pieces. If she won't eat in front of you, place some wriggling pieces in front of her and leave her alone, with no light on, for a while, say 1/2 an hour without watching, then creep up and see if she's eaten anythhing. Earthworm should put the pounds back on your newt.
hope this helps and she's OK,
Chris

 

[robin]

I'm not sure if she's eating or not. She's in the water sometimes now, but is mostly on the land. I push her into the water when I feed her every night, so she'll smell the food. Is there anything else I can be doing, or do you think this plan will work over time?

 

[jennifer]

It's good that she goes in the water sometimes, but if you haven't seen her eat, I'd still be worried. Try feeding with a tweezers, either thawed frozen bloodworms or, better yet, pieces of earthworm. Did you try the earthworm bits yet? If not, please do. This is the most likely food to save her life. Worms from any pesticide-free place are fine, and if you can't get them that way, buy them at Walmart (fishing dept.) or a bait shop.