Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i bought a fire bellied newt a few months ago, my first, and it developed lesions on its head soon after i got it. one is going away but now another has formed. they are small white patches right above its eye. what's wrong? he eats normally and reponds when i walk over to the tank (its him and a few small fish) he gets along fine with everything else in the tank but never seems to leave the water.

does anyone know whats causing the lesions on his head?

thanks!

Have you checked the water quality?

yes, the ph is around 7.4- 7.2 ish. which is about what it normally is, maybe a little low. i m not sure about ammonia levels though- could that be causing the problem?

it's possible

ammonia would most likly kill the newt quickly, not cause skin lesions over time. bacteria is the most likly cause, which generally occurs from poor water quality do to lack of proper filtration. what type of filter do you use on the tank. treating the wounds with plain neosporin or novasan cream will help some, but a serious problem may need a vet consult for a gentamicin(sp?)soak. you shoukld take the tank apart, fill it with water and let anything non biological soak in the tank with a heavy salt concentration, which will kill most or all freshwater bacteria and parasites. after the tank and any items soak for a day, rinse everything very well with hot freshwater from the tap and fill the tank again, place in anything that soaked before and them sit with no salt to make sure any salt is diluted off them. then you can set things back up and try again.

thanks, i ll try that. should i just stick the newt in a bucket while i m cleaning the tank with the salt soak?

any clean container that has never had cleaning agents such as bleach and they cannot escape from is fine. give the newt about 2 inches of water and a rock to get out of water onto. clean the water daily until his tank its set up.