Do females get "harder" during follicle growth?

I've been pairing up lately, haven't witnessed a lock yet, but I notice her follicles growing, as she is a bit lumpy even w/o eating. My question is, do females' bodies get denser, and "harder" while they develop follicles? Normally if you gently squeeze a snake on its sides, its rather "squishy." I was handling her the other day and her whole body felt super stiff and dense, like squeezing a half frozen T-bone. Any thoughts?

I have no experience with this.

From what I have been able to learn is that you can feel the follicles also if you wanna get high tech they sell ultra sound machines for this sorta thing.... Never looked into the ultra sound..

Hope this helps a little, I know it is not the answer you were looking for but hope it helps some.

It is believed that they can get a bit firmer, as they could be flexing the muscles in an attempt to protect the precious cargo "follicles/eggs" that they are carrying.

From listening to reptile radio, Markus Jane reptiles was on the show, said that the females seem to feel ferm,(hard) and their color changes ext. If you go to the website you will be able to listen to the show. Hope this helps