White spot & injured leg...Help!!

A

alissa

Guest
Hi, I recently just got a red-belly newt, a Cynops orientalis. I bought it from Wal-Mart, where the conditions and treatment of the newts were not so great. It's only been two days, but it hasn't eaten yet and refuses to enter the water still, problems that I'm not too worried about yet. I'm worried about its' leg; the day I got it, I noticed it had a missing finger, and what looked like an open sore with white stuff around it. Today, my newt's hand is tucked under, and he's not using it at all. It looks like the white spot is getting bigger, like it's eating his hand off. He's still active, and is using the stub of his wrist to move. Also, there is a tiny white spot that I just noticed on the side of his head. I have some stuff that treats "Ick" and parasites, but I don't know if that'll work or not. Is this potentially fatal? Someone tell me what would be the best way to save this newt! Would a bath in this treatment help? Or should I use peroxide? I can't afford a vet bill, so I would like to save this newt on my own. Thanks.

EDIT: His wrist, where it's tucked under, is also looking bloated.

(Message edited by silverdragon on June 09, 2005)
 
Hi, this is an update. Most of his hand is missing now; there's only one finger left. The other newt I bought (they're separated) is eating worms and looking fine. My sick newt's arm is still swollen and bloated. Here are some pictures of him, though the quality isn't so good. If the medicine doesn't help, would amputation be an option?
37571.jpg
37572.jpg
37573.jpg
Also, this newt, while in quarantine, left some brown looking goop on a leaf. I guessed either A) he's a she, and it's eggs, or B) it's either poo or puke. I'm still worried that he hasn't eaten yet, but he is very active, more active than the one that's eating.
 
I have the same problem with a California newt i recently purchased. When I got him he had a tiny bit of the end of his tail bitten off with a flap of skin hanging.

Now he is quickly losing fingers and has developed white oozing sores. This is the first California newt i have had in 4 years because I lost 5 to this problem after moving.

Even if the anti-biotics help, can newts grow back their lost limbs? If i cannot heal him is there some method of euthanasia that would be easy on the newt? He seems to be suffering as the infection eats away at his limbs and I don't know how to stop this.
 
Alissa, yes, amputation is an option, but I would NOT recommend it unless you get help from a vet or really know what you are doing. The brown stuff is poo. Being "active" is not necessarily a good sign, it can be a sign of stress.

Will, sorry to hear about your newt.
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/euthanasia.shtml
 
Alissa, the limb will grow back. The white area is dead skin. Apply some Neosporin (the kind WITHOUT pain killer as Lidocaine is deadly to newts) every day for a few days & keep an eye on it. I also add Tetracycline to the water (you can buy tablets in the fish section of the pet store, that come with instructions). With some TLC it will grow the limb back & be ready to rejoin the community in a month or so.
 
It is benzocaine that is toxic, not lidocaine. Considering how swollen the limb is, it is unlikely to grow back until the local inflammation is gone. It may be able to do this on its own, or not, impossible to say.
 
Also, adding a general antibiotic to your tank will crash your biological filter.
 
When this happened to one of my newts(c.o) it mysteriously lost her hand, and what remained was the infamous white orb. I isolated it in a seprate container, and used bactine, but I was in the hospital when it happend and couldn't get to it to actually inspect the newt, all I was told is "the arms falling off". It died a few days later literally right in front of me. So what is the white goo? infected tissue or signs of infection I would suppose.
 
The infection which started at the tip of my T.gran's tail rapidly moved up the right side of his body in the last week. Both legs on one side were destroyed by the infection, and multiple spots along his tail and body developed infections.

I applied the bactine every day, but the infection had spread too much to slow down and the newt was suffering. I decided that euthanasia was the most humane decision. In 8 years of keeping newts, this is the most difficult thing I have ever done. The Oragel was effective, but not nearly as quick as I would have liked.
 
That is tragic. I'm sorry it happened!

Perhaps EdK would know more about this, but the white tissue would just seem to me dead tissue which has started to decay.

(Message edited by apples on August 02, 2005)
 
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