small drops of blood coming from vent area

Hi everyone,

About a week ago I noticed a few drops of blood in my female pastel's cage. I looked her over but didn't see anything on her, I thought maybe it was from a meal that I just miss cleaning up after.

Today I saw two more drops of blood, so I picked her up and looked her over. I noticed that on the two scales covering her vent (not the little spur thingies) that one of the scales look like it got bent backwards and broke off a little (kind of like would happen with a toenail stubbed toe). There is a small red dot where the blood came from about the size of a tip of a pencil. I put antiobiotic ointment over it. She's still eating normal and everything.

Is this something I need to be concerned about? Somehow I think the next shed will fix that scale? Thanks!

JonV

Anyone?

Oh, and I should add that it has been several weeks since she shed, so I doubt it is shed related. And I feed out of the container so there's no way its from a FT rat.

Thanks!

JonV

Hi,

What kind of substrate are you using at the moment? With injuries on the underside of the snake especially it might be agood idea to use paper towel or newspaper to help keep it clean if you are not using those already.

So do you think it was caused by getting caught or something against cage furniture? What kind of antibiotic ointment did you use? - the one I see recommended on here most of the time is neosporin (making sure it is the kind without pain killers).

It should heal up after a shed ( or two) I would think if it's that minor but remember to keep an eye on it for signs of infecion and if you are in any way worried about it a vet visit might be an option worth considering. A vet may even want to prescribe some anti-bios as a precaution if you take him in.


dr del

Thanks Dr. Del,

I currently keep them on paper towels and will continue to do so. I like the cleanliness. I did use Neosporin without the pain killer.

The cage is 12" tall, the BP is about 24" long. Sometimes she crawls up the sides and presses really hard against the top only to "thump" over on her side after tiring of the lid game. And sometimes she lands on cage furniture (which I have tried to move out of her way). I thought maybe she could have taken a good bump on something and hurt a scale?

I will keep an eye on it and watch for any signs of infection.

I was thinking this might be more common, but a teeny spec of blood would be very hard to spot on say, Aspen bedding. Maybe I am hyper-aware of it because the bright white paper towels show every stain?
Thanks!

JonV

Hi,

Yes they do show everything really clearly.

When I kept mine in glass tanks I used to pack the areas beween the tanks "ledges" and the lid with rolled up paper to stop them getting up there - they are generally very clumsy climbers and I was always worried about them landing awkwardly and breaking ribs or something.

Maybe she had her tail coiled arouns the glass shelf when she fell and twisted it against the edge or something? That's (obviously) only a guess but I would look around the tank to see if there are signs of blood anywhere else to narrow it down a bit.


dr del

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

When I kept mine in glass tanks I used to pack the areas beween the tanks "ledges" and the lid with rolled up paper to stop them getting up there - they are generally very clumsy climbers and I was always worried about them landing awkwardly and breaking ribs or something.



dr del

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Mine did the same thing so I did something similar as well. Right now I have plastic plants on suction cups stuck to the side of the tank. They love to crawl up in them, but the plants kind of slant down and so from time to time they will slide right off them and fall. It is usually a fall of about 10" or less. Should I remove the plants? I feel bad because it really looks like they enjoy them. Maybe just add extra paper towel for padding? Or should I try one of those bendi-vines hooked to suction cups so they can't slide off it??

JonV

Did she recently shed? Is there anyway she injested something? The plants aren't necesarry and I would take them out to rule that out.

I have had that happen on several occasions where the spur breaks off for no apparent reason. (My tubs are minimalist)


It is not really anything to worry about, but make sure no infections are present, keep it clean.

It will NOT grow back though. (In case you were wondering)

I would just keep it clean and simple as far as caging goes. If you suspect that the tank is the culprit, I would definitely change over to a tub. BPs are not graceful climbers and will usually just fall onto the cage floor :/