New Rat Snake

Question
we just picked up a rat snake from the pet store, she's agressive because of being neglected for 2 months, the people who surrendered her to the pet store found her in a shed with no lights and no water etc.  before we picked her up today she did a perfect shed [thank god] but we noticed she bled from the vent.... any answers???
also when my boyfriend picked her up before taking her home with  him she "musked" on him?? would that cause it??
thanks..  
Nippy [ our new yellow rat snake]
6' long
=)  

Answer
Hi Kerri,

A good shed is a sign that although your snake is a bit stressed it should be healthy.

The musk, is a form of defense. if you pick up an agressive snake, and it cant bite you, it will musk. milksnakes are generally the worst snakes for this, they musk a lot and it smells particularly bad, but lots of agressive snakes will musk or otherwise defecate on you when handled =P. the musk wont have caused the bleeding from the cloaca.

Change your snake's substrate to nespaper so that you can see if the cloaca continues to bleed, if not it may have just damaged the cloaca on something and it shouldnt cause any further problems. the newspaper is also cleaner and will help to eliminate the possibility of an infection.

if it continues to bleed, your snake may have some form of parasite in it's colon, or a bacterial infection. in either case you should take it to see a vet to get treatment.

I hope your snake is nice and healthy and settles down fine in its new home =)

Thanks for your question,

Andy