Blood at anus of ball python

Question
Hi Eric. My ball python Bert has just shed and I noticed some blood near the anus on the shed and on his body. He's about 3 years old and has always been a healthy snake. He eats two baby rats every two weeks. I fed him just over a week ago. He's normally very active in the evening but has seemed to be lethargic. Is this from him shedding or could there be another problem? I'm very worried and would really appreciate any insight that you can give. Thanks!

Answer
Hello Nancy,

Can you say for certain that Bert is a male?

Snakes will normally rest during the start of their shed cycle, but will however be active at night to help push the dead skin off. In female ball pythons they will rub their gentiles around on the substrate to leave their pheromones in breeding season, this sometimes has a little blood in it but is normally triggered by an adult male. The reason is due to them inverting their cloaca. When a ball python sheds it also sheds its hemipenis, this may also cause a little blood.

As long as you are not seeing a good amount it is probably Ok.
Just keep on feeding. Speaking of, you had said your feeding baby rats. When you say that are you meaning rat pups or actual baby rats? The prey item/items should be equal to the girth of the mid body of your snake.

I hope this helps you Nancy. If you need anything else please feel free to post again. I have a website you can visit as well and become a member of the Ball Python Forum. I look forward to seeing you there.

Thanks, and good luck.
Eric Rovegno
www.ballpythonplanet.com