*UPDATE* Kiwi, my female xantho...

[JaxKiwiTiger]

Not the best update in the world...about 2 weeks ago I created a thread about my Kiwi, my female Jackson that's always dark colored. We've since moved her into a much larger cage (2'x2'x4') and I did the poop smear test, which came back negative (no bright red tinges). Anyways, she's still stressed out. She still eats like a pig (crix/mealworms/snails) and moves around. I haven't taken her to a vet yet due to tight budgeting. We've been spoiling her as much as possible yet nothing seems to reduce her color back to normal. I've run out of ideas. Anyways, I took some pictures to show you guys what I mean. The first 2 pics are Kiwi. The 3rd pic is of Jax, who we got at the same time and take care of the exact same way (yes, they are kept far apart from each other).

All comments/suggestions/questions are more than welcome! Thanks!!

 

[xanthoman]

hi jax,
sorry to hear you are still having problems. as i stated in my previous post, since the test is known to be inconclusive, "if it turns up negative, then it tells you nothing". given what we know about the situation i would say pathogenic infection, (ie; parastes), is still the overwhelming probability.
just because there is no indication of visible blood in the feces(gross hematochezia), that does not mean there is not blood in the stool in so small amounts as to not be seen by the naked eye(microscopic hematochezia). also, since there are other things than parasites that can cause blood in the stool, the presence or absence of blood in the stool does not necessarily mean, or rule out, pathogenic infection.
some xanths handle pathogenic infection (or even poor diet) better than others, just because your other chams dont display the same symptoms, does not mean that they are not dealing with the same issues. my point is you cant use your other chams as a gauge against the health of your ailing cham.
are you still feeding mostly cricks and mealworms? some xanths just cant handle a diet like that. i think the snails is new information? feeding snails is good, as long as you raise them yourself. as somebody who has both raised snails (from wild stock) and preformed microscopy on them, i can tell you that wild snails are almost always high in pathogenic load (parasites). imo, its one of the main reasons that wild xanths have such a high rate of infection. all of these animals should be on a better diet consisting of flies roaches,silkworms, bsfl

the term "whitish does not accurately describe the urates. just to be clear when people talk about yellow urates they do not mean that the entire urate is banana yellow, what that means is that the urates are "whitish" with tinges of (usually faint) yellow, so please re-examine her urates , it would be an easy thing to overlook if somebody didnt examine closely enough or wasnt sure of what they are looking for, i find it unlikely that the animal is well hydrated.

what this animal really needs is a fecal float and a vet visit. you can probably find a vet that will do a float without a visit for <<$50. im not trying to harsh on your situation (because i am well familiar with the dynamic of being broke), but the reality is, at some point you have to reach an honest conclusion as to whether you have the economic means to care for these animals sufficiently. imo, everyday that a xanth goes in poor health is one more day closer to the situation becoming irreversible.

imo, she will likely die if kept in a captive state without the care she needs (when she needs it). given your location, imo, as long as she is still eating, she would have a better chance in the wild, than she would if you cant afford to get her to a vet. you could always get another, hopefully healthier one, when your situation improves.

i realize that may not be the solution your looking for, but imo, its better than letting the animal sit in need of a vet visit that it is not getting, and to be clear we are not just talking about the cost of a fecal or even a vet visit. if the fecal turns up positive (likely) or the vet recommends bloodwork (also likely), then we are talking about more tests, meds, and a follow up visit. i am not saying that is what you should do, but if you decided to let her go, the sooner you did it the better chance she would have.