I've got some questions that I haven't been able to find answers for despite hours and days of searching. I am new to the world of ball pythons. I've only been involved in it for a couple of months. I have two snakes and am thinking about getting a third because I believe that the mojave is a beautiful morph and want one very badly.

The questions are as follows.
1. My adult BP has what appears to be many bad sheds in the form of eyecaps. Her eyes are very wrinkly or layered looking. Any solutions or ideas what it really is. I've kept the humidity higher in her cage and I've tried soaking her in warm water and the pillowcase method. I've also very lightly rubbed her eyes with a Qtip but with no success.

2. Today was the first time I killed their food first and neither one of them stuck and coiled their prey. I was told that the striking and coiling is the normal behavior no matter what. Should I be concerned at all?

3. The adult never leaves her one hide. I have one hide on each side of the cage and the one on the hot side is 2 or 3 times the size of her body and she still prefers it over the smaller one.

4. My younger snake is growing much quicker than I am told they are supposed to. I've only had her for about 2 months and she's almost tripled in weight. When I got her she was around 55-60 grams and now is approximately 180 grams. She went from eating mice to eating small rats in 4 weeks. Is this anything to be concerned about or is it normal as well?

5. The last question is dang near impossible to answer I believe. The adult BP was a rescue. I was told it was a pregnant female that was over 2 years old. That she had her prelay shed a week before I got her. However I have had it for 3.5 weeks and it's been eating the whole time. So I deduce that it's not pregnant. My question is what gender and age do you think the snake is? It is approx. 3.5 feet long and weighs 1738 grams.