ball python breeding

Question
I have a 2-3 year old male and female ball python and hey have ben mating and I never separated them because  I wanted to make sure it took and now I notice 3 different spots in the cage were there was blood and took the bloodies part of the dirt out and her out of the cage than she shuck a lot and than tried biting the air and I was wounding why that would be I know a lot about ball pythons but this is my 1st time having two mate and was wondering if you could give me a few tips and if I should be worried about the females heath

Answer
The female should really be 3 years of age before any sport of breeding, as well as knowledge should be known of the snakes exact hatch date and breeder. As far as her behavior and the blood, only medical testing can determine why there is blood. Snake breeding should not cause any sort of blood loss what so ever unless one snake bit the other. In which case the snake would have dried blood on it in the area it was bit.

I do not think a bite occurred if you are just finding spots in the substrate. You need to find the source of the blood, whether from him or her, from one of their vents, or from the mouth area. If there is blood coming from either of the snakes vents, that snake should be seen by a exotics vet only.. any other vet and you are wasting your time and money.

Without knowing more about your set ups, cooling period and dates, as well as how long they were together I cant really say if it is breeding related. But any sort of blood from a snake, unless from a physical wound, is not good. If she continues to behave oddly, or you find more blood I would really have her looked at.

I have never ran into a serious issue before, during or from breeding. My biggest issues came with eggs, making sure they were all passed and none were stuck in the female. But since you just paired them up it is a long wait for eggs so that is not the issue.