Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My newt is in a dirt tank quaratine for rot and being treated with hydrogen peroxide and neosporin. I took him to the vet today and she said he was healing well, but that I should keep him at room temp instead of 70 degrees so that his metabolism would speed up and he'd get hungry and eat, and that if he didn't eat we should force feed him. How valid is this advice? The vet didn't havbe much experience with newts, mostly snakes and lizards.

hi there-

i really don't know the answer for sure, but i wanted to tell you what i do know, just because i know how it feels when nobody responds to a plea for help (for example, see my posting 'necropsy/axolotl' below). so- i do know that axolotls, when ill, should be stored at lower temperatures. this lowers their metabolism, and lets their body work exclusively on healing itself. i don't know much about newts, so it might be safest to go with the vet's advice. my one piece of advice would be to not force feed it (assuming it's not emmaciated) and to never leave prey animals in there with it overnight/unmonitored. if it refuses to eat, maybe a lower temperature would be better, so it won't starve as quickly. if you must, (and this is a shot in the dark), maybe try mashing up some waxworm or other item, putting the goo in a very small syringe (maybe a 1cc or a 5cc size, with no needle), and injecting a small amount into its mouth. if this didn't work, as a last resort, i would probably try some watered-down chicken baby food, but only as a last resort. i hope my ideas helped some!

-marla

my newt died last night. I appreciate your help.

i know how you feel- i recently lost both of the axolotls i had raised from embryos as part of my undergrad thesis, and a few days ago my favorite fire-bellied toad died from a gut impaction (he was the runt). it's hard to keep pets that people know relatively little about in terms of veterinary care.
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marla
keeper of: axolotls, catfish, ferrets, leopard geckoes, oriental fire-bellied toads, and sugar gliders

I also lost my first firebelly newt, Batman, to a serious infection (he cut his face on something, possibly a rock, which I now keep out of the tank in memorial of Batman... yes, I am obsessive. He had cut from his left nostril down under his chin diagonally across the mouth. He tried to eat from my hand, but the infection was too bad). I tried for three straight days to get veterinary help for him, but I couldn't get a good answer (or any answer) out of anyone I talked to. I called a few exotic animal hospitals, reptile/amphibian veterinarians, even my cat's veterinarian! But poor little Batman died the next day after I'd called all those people.

In other words, I feel your pain