Bleeding from vent

Hey,

My snake is about five months old. He's in a ten gallon with about 78-80 degrees on the warm end and 72-75 degrees on the cool end. He has fresh water every day and has never had shedding difficulties. He's never had any problems before, and has a great appetite. Yesterday he was fed a small fuzzy (his third ever, and smaller than a previous fuzzy). Although he's been fine in the past, I noticed something strange this morning.

He's been leaving drops of blood over the paper towels in his cage, and his vent is open and a bulging pink mass (his hemipenes?) is exposed. I think that this is what's bleeding, as it leaves a spot when he slithers around. Otherwise, he seems normal... but I'm really worried. Does anyone know what's causing this? What can I do to stop it, or will it go away on its own?

Thank you very much for your help, I'm really worried about my little guy.

~Lura

Update

Well, I just went to dab some sugar water on the tissue before contacting the vet, and the tissue was pulled back inside the cloaca. There is no blood around the area and it looks completely normal. This is about an hour after I first posted. What just happened here? I probably will still take him to the vet to get him checked out unless it's absolutely not necessary. What do you guys think?

Thank you very much,
~Lura

Sounds like either prolapsed hemipenes or prolapsed cloaca. Glad to hear the sugar water worked. I can't say exactly what the cause is. Possibilities include straining to pass a dry stool, vitamin C deficiency causing weakened connective tissue, other. The vet may have more ideas. Good luck.