experienced only please !!!

ok ive been waiting for my new boy to shed .. he finally did and i noticed blood on the paper i looked thru the shed skin everything was fine when i picked him up and examined i seen some blood by his slip ( sorry i dont know the proper word but u should know what im talking about .. where he goes to the bathroom) so i never had this happen with any of my bp's .. then i got to thinking usually they crap when they shed .. right ?? and then i got to really thinking ive had him for almost 2 weeks and he has ate twice and never pooped .. now i know that shouldnt alarm me cause sometimes they go for a while without pooping but all of my others usually go once a week and its about 3-4 after a meal .. i took him out to take a pic of where the blood was now it was only a little bit in the tub and very very little on him but before i could he started to pee then he pooped just a very little and it was just a little white thing not even the real deal .. so my observation is i think he might be constipated .. can anyone chime in and let me know what they think please ... im still new at this and have lots to learn but i never delt with this issue b4 ..

thanks you

Having blood at the vent after a shed is normal.

They will many times have a movement after a shed. Small or not it does not sound like you have anything to worry about.

really?? ive never seen that b4 .. but like i said im still new to this and still have a lot to learn .. thanks

The blood is normal. Some of mine do it every time they shed, some almost never do, it's perfectly normal.

The white "poop" isn't poop at all, it's urates. Urates are a form of urine that snake and some other animals produce. It's also normal.

A constipated BP is very easy to spot. They will swell up towards their tail until they look like a sausage. (We call it sausage butt). Unless your BP has this you have nothing to worry about. Here is an example of sausage butt:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Butt!-O/page3

It does not happen every shed but does occur from time to time.

Hey Steve,

It's not uncommon to pass some blood when they shed. I wouldn't worry about it. If your concerned about constipation than you can soak him in 85 degree water for a bit to see if it helps him pass it. But you really don't have anything to worry about. Some of my ball pythons defecate once every two or 3 weeks, and others go less frequently. I think your main concern was the blood and I don't think it should be an issue. If the bleeding continues or intensifies I would bring him to a vet but blood on the cloaca or on the substrate after a shed is not uncommon by any means.

Hope this helped :)

Chris.

I totally panicked the first time I saw blood after a shed. (and that was only a few weeks ago!) Don't worry, it does happen from time to time.

Yup, perfectly normal to have a small amount of blood at vent with a shed. The hard white thing is urates. Urates = pee, also normal. If it's a young snake, they often don't poo with every meal, as they are growing and use all of their meal. I wouldn't be worried.

Beautiful boy, by the way-- is that him in your avatar photo?

hey thanks everyone .. that sausage butt thing is crazy lol he dont look like that .. and the urates i didnt even know what everyone was talking about untill now lol i always thought when people said that just meant they peed lol ... but yea it was more the blood that had me messed up ive never seen it i own 5 bp's all are new to me and all are young except one she is over 2 .. so like i said im still very knew to this but thanks guys for the relief ..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

Beautiful boy, by the way-- is that him in your avatar photo?

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yes thats him .. thank you

It can happen. Some people say their belly turns pink when they shed because it's blood. It's definitely a possibility and makes sense. If it is blood from their skin tearing, it's no wonder they are cranky when they are shedding!