Bloody Shed

[toddnbecka]

This is the second consecutive time my fire bull has shed and there's been a bloody spot on the shed. Last time it was a day or two before I saw that he had shed, this one was still fresh when I found it. Anyone ever encountered something similar? Doesn't look like serious blood loss, but definitely not normal. Looks similar to a rat bite (have a fresh one on my finger after cleaning cages today) but I would expect it to have healed up better by now if that was the case.

[Albert Clark]

Yep t&b, I concur that it looks like a rat bite. There is a wound visible through the scale and beneath it. At first glance I was thinking maybe something sharp in the enclosure that was the cause but....feeding live rats. That's probably it. Doesn't look serious and just keep it clean and dry maybe even consider switching to paper towel substrate until you get it under control. Betadine wipe down twice a day?

[toddnbecka]

Thing is, this is the second shed that had a bloody spot, and I haven't fed him live rats for weeks now. I would have expected the bite to be healed better by now. This looks like the shed pulled off a clot from an open wound. No blood on the substrate either time. I'll take him out for a closer inspection tomorrow, just fed him a freshly killed rat earlier today then found the shed when I went down to turn off the lights tonight.

[chairman]

I know that it is generally unnecessary but you could give your snake a good soaking the next time you see it in blue. It looks like your humidity was fine for normal shedding purposes but the skin may need extra moisture to avoid opening the wound.

[jjhill001]

I like chairman's idea.