blood from vent???????????????

[sg1trogdor]

my female just shed sometime today while i was at work and i just picked her up and from her vent to tail tip is all bloody(dried blood) i have never seen this before does this just happen sometimes or is it something serious. i really cant afford to take her to a vet right now. but if i must i guess theres always the credi card. lol. please any help .

[dr del]

How much blood are we talking about here?


It is not unusual for a very small amount to caused by the shedding as it pulls away from the tender areas of the vent - this is more common in smaller snakes than in adults from what i have seen though.

If it is a lot of blood did you check to see if there is still blood flowing and where from?

what do you use as a substrate - I only ask because newspaper or similar would make it easier to judge how much blood we're talking about.

Pics might help if you think it's something unusual.


dr del

[lord jackel]

Derek is right hard to say without knowing how much blood or better yet an image.


As an example...one of my females had a bad scale (turned brown) and when she shed it came off and was replaced with a good one...but in doing so she bled...enough to have a smear on the newspaper substrate. But a couple days later and you couldn't tell.

[sg1trogdor]

well she is a smaller snake only about 480 grams and maybe 30 inches long its all dried and looks like the bloood came from the spur area on the side of the vent. its looks to be rather old and dried so i think she is ok i have heard all kinds of things on here but have yet to see any with my female shes the opposite of textbook . lol . the amount of blood is very small it goes from the spur to maybe 4 or 5 scales back but thats just from being dagged around. i will try to put up some pics thanks though.

[dr del]

Doesn't sound like anything to worry about but sling up the pic just to put your mind at rest.


And yes I like the fact that they can be so individual - my little female hatchling almost killed herself on saturday by ramming her head out from under her hide then turning on her back and not being able to pull it back in or move forward - mainly because the dozy wazzock had tried to brace herself for these maneuvers by bracing against the hide she now needed to move. I sat watching for a full 60 seconds in utter amazement before lifting it off her and getting hissed at for my trouble.

I since filed the edges round to make it easier for her to get out of it if she is daft enough to do it again.


dr del