Blood with shed

My bp shed last night and there was some blood on the paper towel substrate. She's got a couple of bad scales but the vet said to keep an eye on them and if they don't get worse, don't worry about it. She's kept clean/dry/warm at all times so I'm not too concerned about scale rot or anything like that.

She wasn't actively bleeding when I noticed it, but upon inspection, it seemed at least some of the bleeding came from around/under one of the spurs.

I have a vet appt at 2:45 this aft. Just wonder if anyone has any idea what could be happening.

I should add that there has been very small traces of blood with some of the previous sheds and I was unable to locate the source, but this time it was enough to make me quite concerned. She does eat live, but I haven't fed her in a couple of weeks so it's not a food related injury or anything.

It's normal to see some blood after a shed. It doesn't happen all the time or with all snakes, but it's not uncommon at all. The tissues around the vent are delicate and can sometimes get torn a little if the snake is an "enthusiastic shedder." So long as the bleeding does not continue beyond a few minutes after the shed, everything should be fine.


Of course, a vet check is always wise if you're concerned about something. You know your snake and nothing can be or should be diagnosed over the Internet.

What exactly do you mean by 'enthusiastic shedder' ?

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Originally Posted by jenaero

What exactly do you mean by 'enthusiastic shedder' ?

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Gets in a hurry. :D

I just mean that some snakes will pull themselves out of their old skin really fast and maybe a little rough on themselves. Other snakes take it slow and easy.

Oh I see. Well it was more blood than I've ever seen before so I'm gonna play it safe. My vet doesn't usually charge me for visits, just for meds anyway.

That's pretty smart to get a vet appointment :) We need more people like that in the herp world.

Oh and BTW janaero- nice avatar, Steven Tyler's my favorite lead singer :D