Bloated BP?? Deep, Heavy breathing, not normal!

I should have posted this earlier but as with everything else, I hear a lot of 'be patient its normal'
Ive only had him for a few weeks, he's been perfectly healthy til now. He was in what I believe to be the start of a shed, head was grey/blue, eyes clouded over, etc. I was holding off his meal til he was done shedding but since it was day 9 and his eyes have been clear for 2 days, I decided to feed. He missed his first strike and acted really weird, kept his head straight up, kept opening his mouth and turning it. I thought maybe he ate some dirt and way trying to swallow it. Anyway, he ate and went into his hide. Today, day after he ate, i could still see his belly lump which is unusual for me to notice the next day. A couple hours later it looks as if his skin is sagging like he needs to shed it off but dont know how. I leave him be figuring nature works these things out. Now at bedtime instead of a lump he looks bloated from a few inches down all the way down to his vent and he is taking long deep breaths, getting puffed upand exhaling very deeply. Is he ok??

sounds like he's about ready to shed and poop. though the long deep breathes sounds disturbing. after a snake goes into blue it's eyes will clear for a few days before the shed. I don't feed until after the shed. A picture of that lower body/vent area might be helpful.

Ive been reading and a lot of ppl are saying to put him in the bath (which i do regularly) but he usually poops regularly 4-5 days after a meal. Im afraid to pick him up to put him in the bath &/or get a picture. Should I put him in the water and take a pic? He ate about 30 hours ago give or take.

Also, as he breaths his body slowly rocks

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...8/imag3235.jpg

I got him in the tub now. After about 10 min he lifted his tail like he was going to poop but he didnt. This rocking side to side while he breathes is whats scaring me most! Not to mention its almost 2:30am and im usually sleeping by now, i just didnt want to not do anything and just go to bed. Im just worried about what im going to wake up to...

I'm having trouble deciding what I am seeing - is that a large swollen area in his middle or just the picture?

Has he eaten lately?

ETA: re-read post. - Stop stressing him out for a couple of days and just triple checks the temps at both ends of his enclosure. I'm worried all this handling and such might cause a regurge.

He is doing great now, back to normal. Just curious where you got "all this handling'? The only time I handled him was to put him in the tub (which I believed helped him out.

I figured the deep breathing was him feeling stressed. :oops:

I generally do not handle my snakes at all after they have eaten - my bad