[flyingSquirrel]

Sorry to post about a newt in a frog forum but this is the best and most active forum I know of, and there are tons of experienced people on here. I plan to take my newt to a vet on the weekend if I can find a vet that knows anything about newts.

My firebelly newt has developed a cloudy covering over both eyes. The newt is probably 17+ years old. Temps are around 68, ph is about 7.2, water is crystal clear. All conditions in the enclosure are exactly as they've been for years. Any ideas what this could be?

Thanks for any help you can offer. I am freaking out about this!

 

[suztor]

Check out caudata.org. like dendroboard but for salamanders.

 

[suztor]

I'm by far no expert but in dogs when you feed a high fat diet (like too many cheese treats) they get a cloudyness over their eyes.
What do you feed your old man?

Could also be just something that comes with his advanced age.

That's all I can think of, water paramaters sound good to me.

 

[flyingSquirrel]

I'm by far no expert but in dogs when you feed a high fat diet (like too many cheese treats) they get a cloudyness over their eyes.
What do you feed your old man?

Could also be just something that comes with his advanced age.

That's all I can think of, water paramaters sound good to me.

Thanks for your help. I'll try caudata...I've been on there before but it seems kinda slow. Hopefully I find a good vet and can get my newt better

 

[jbherpin]

Sorry to hear about the health issues... Clouded eyes are mostly attributed to a bacterial infection. It could be the immune system has become compromised with age. In many cases, once the eyes are clouded, the prognosis is not good. Again, I am sorry to hear...

All my best-

www.caudata.org is a great place to get knowledge. If you go into the member chat after 11 pm it is always bustling with very intelligent, and helpful people. It is run by John Clare. He is a wonderful guy, very generous with his time and knowledge. He is Johnc( http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members/johnc.html ) here on www.dendroboard.com .

JBear

 

[flyingSquirrel]

Update:

I found some very good documentation on caudata.org, including some excellent articles written by none other than Ed. After reading through the various documents and links, I still can't identify the exact cause of the symptoms or condition of my newt.

Luckily, there is a supposedly excellent exotic animal veterinary clinic not 15 minutes from where I live! SCORE! (The Center for Bird and Exotic Animal Medicine. I can only hope that I can get my newt in to them tomorrow and that they have experience with examining and diagnosing amphibians.

Will post updates

 

[flyingSquirrel]

Sorry I forgot to update. It'll be quick then I'll let this thread go...

Took my newt to the vet. Surprise surprise, they didn't know what the problem was and didn't want to run any tests during the first visit. The eye problem continues and is not getting better, nor is it getting worse, but the newt otherwise looks and behaves completely normal and healthy. I'll probably post on caudata.org, but other than that it's not looking good.

 

[frogface]

Keep us posted. Hope it works out ok.

 

[jbherpin]

Keep us posted. Hope it works out ok.

It's a bit of a long shot, but you could drop the temps into the low fifties and keep him that way for a few weeks. Sometimes a cold period can clear up some infections. Other times it just surpresses the illness, where upon warming back up, the condition returns. This has been mostly done with axolotls though... Again, best of luck...

JBear

 

[Ed]

As with other animals geriatric amphibians can also get cateracts or other eye problems. It can be difficult to tell the cause of the cloudiness in very small animals.

Ed