Missing Spur??

[rushchaser]

Hi.. Our sub-adult male ball just shed today. We had him out, when I noticed he only had one spur. I KNOW I've seen both spurs on him before. It also seems like there is some dried blood around that general area (just a small trace of it around his butt? don't know what you call that area). He is in a tank by himself, nothing that he could possibly get hurt on! What could have happened to him? Could it have anything to do with him shedding? Is that normal and will it affect his breeding when the time comes? Do they grow back? If you have any ideas as to what happened, please voice your opinions or knowledge. Thanks!!

[Schlyne]

A very small amount of blood is normal when they shed the vent scale. He may have lost one spur in the last shed, but he should be fine to breed without it.

[muddoc]

I would be willing to bet that his spur is still there. Their spurs are actually quite small. What most people fail to realize is that when looking at an adult Ball Python's spurs, typically what you are seeing is about 3 to 4 retained sheds on the spurs. Look at your snake's next shed, and see if it has a shed spur on it. I usually don't see the shed from the spur on the rest of the shed. I have occasionally pulled off retained spur sheds and you see the actual spur, which is quite small, and white (not the brownish color that you normally see). Hope that helps, and I would bet that upon closer inspection, you will find a tiny white spur still there.

[lillyorchid]

I'm with Tim, it's probably tucked up inside still but some snakes will loose a spur. Apparently it isn't anything to worry about and I've been told it happens quite a lot actually.

[rushchaser]

Thanks for your response! Just got a little spooked bc of the blood stains and no "spur" or what i thought was one lol. Appreciate all the words of wisdom.