Second opinion please - tiny amount of blood in stool

[Kcl]

My ball python is currently 600g, probably about a year old. Last night, my boyfriend woke me up because he had heard a loud, strange noise from him and was concerned. We opened the tub to find a large poop and my ball python staring straight up. The loud noise must have been him pooping loudly.

However, with the poop, there was a very small amount of blood. I removed him to clean and check him. His vent was slightly reddened and returned to normal after 10 minutes. He had no mucus visible in or around his nostrils and no evidence of respiratory distress (checked due to the staring upwards). He was very active as I held him and seemed perfectly happy. I also checked on him this morning and he seemed fine, although unhappy at being woken up. There was no staring upwards seen after picking him up.

i believe that he just pooped a bit too forcefully, thus the bit of blood and is fine. I have volunteered at a wildlife rehab center for 3+ years among other things , so I have a decent amount of experience with visual health assessments for a variety of species, but there is just more anxiety when it's yours.

i am more than happy to take him to the vet if necessary, but I think that there's no need and the car ride will just freak him out. I did up the humidity a bit as before this time, he decided not to poop for three weeks until after I gave him a bath to encourage him. This time was only a week after that, so I want to make sure he is not slightly dehydrated. He does have fresh water at all times and has yet to refuse a meal.

Anything I should be concerned about or should I just leave him to his comfy life of hiding 20+ hours a day?

[Soord]

I would say keep an eye to see if he acts different and wait for the next to see if it happens again. I am, by no means, an expert though. Just what I would do

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[Albert Clark]

It can be normal IMO to see a small amount of blood expressed in a stool sample. The real thing is to make sure you don't see any white or yellow invertebrates swimming in the stool. If it continues or you are disturbed by it just collect the stool in a double zip- lock bag it and have it examined by microscope at the exotic vet office. Are you feeding live or f/t?

[Kcl]

He eats f/t. It's possible he had some live meals early on in his life as I know some people will start them on live pinkies etc, but the breeder already had him on f/t when I got him and the only switch I've made is from mice to rats. I have no intention to feed live. He hasn't shown any sign of parasites that I've seen - I absolutely would take him in for panacur or similar if I saw anything moving in the feces. I have not specifically had a fecal done though. Mostly because it's hard to predict when a snake will poop and my schedule is pretty busy. It wasn't a priority for a healthy snake but I will certainly make it one if he seems to have any issues. I am not super concerned at the moment as I agree that it can be normal but I definitely wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything and I appreciate the feedback.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Did it just shed?

[Kcl]

Nope, he had a perfect one piece shed about two weeks ago