BP bleeding possibly...

[Kent K25]

Hey a friend of mine in another state called me last night for some advice concerning his Ball Python. He put a rat in with it and after an extended period of time it didn't eat it (surprise surprise, a BP refusing food). But he noticed afterwards blood on the BP beneath the ventral opening, but upon inspection couldn't find any injuries. (Rat was p/k). He said the rat did have a bit of blood coming from its mouth from when he whacked it, but thought the blood on the BP could have been too excessive to have come from that. Anyways, I told him I would check on here to see if there are any common internal problems that could lead to blood coming out the ventral? He is keeping an eye on the BP to see if it occurs again so that he could rule out the rat blood, but in the meantime I thought I'd see what you guys had to say.....

[eddie]

If he cleaned the snake up and found no injuries at all, then it is very likely the snake rubbed the bloody nosed rodent with his 'business' end.
A fresh killed rat can bleed a lot more than you would think at times, seemingly 1/2 their volume in blood if whacked hard enough.

The only thing that comes to mind to cause blood from the snake like that can probably be ruled out as I don't think youir friend was driving his car in the tank

[Kent K25]

Thats a fair assumption eddie! I was wondering more as to whether or not there are any "common" internal problems that could lead to that kind of bleeding? He did call back about 10 minutes later to tell me that he had noticed blood on the rat and was less suspicious of any problems with the snake, but I told him I'd ask on here anyway. Thanks eddie

[Kent K25]

Bump! Any other thoughts folks?

[gemisnake]

If it is w/c there is a high chance of parasites and I'd say take it to a vet if upon inspection it wasnt just rubbed against the rat.

[Kent K25]

Its a captive bred BP, I was with him when he bought it. As for the surprise surprise part, his is a very picky eater and refuses meals for no apparent reason. My old BP was the same, he would eat very well for months, then go on a hunger strike for no reason for long periods of time. Only species of snake I've ever had problems with, I don't think people make it up for fun, or have anything against BP's.

	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.