Newbie Stressing Out: Is my ball python getting ready for shed?

[Ella18]

I actually misnamed the mouse. I meant small mouse and not 'small adult' . So you'd want a small mouse Sorry about that!

Haha noted

[Stormy]

Ok, so firstly, I got my very first snake exactly a week ago(2 month old pastel male ball python)
Details on husbandary: he’s in a tub set up with newspaper, 2 hides, one at the hot side and one at the cool side and a water bowl. Humidity during the day stays around 62%, sometimes going up to 65%, and some nights it goes up to 72%, but generally averages at 65%. Hot side is at 90f (heated with heat pad) and cool side at 80f. He ate two fuzzies on Monday (his first frozen, was fed live by breeder)


ok so now for the q’s. I’ve been a total stress-ball ever since I got him, questioning everything he does, if it’s normal etc. now around saturday I noticed a slight pink hue on his belly,very similar to what i would imagine it to look when getting ready to shed, then 2 days ago (after leaving him for about 46hrs after feeding, cause yes, i did track the time, pretty ocd) anyways, he started acting a bit more lethargic, just hanging around when i hold him, not exploring much. He also started rubbing himself on me, like... massaging almost, and letting me rub his head. Now he does not have mites, as I have checked a few times already. When i set him down on my bed, he’ll return to my hand and rub and curl around it squeezing/rubbing himself on my arm and hand.Now this, with the fact that he’s become much lazier, has me a bit worried... but also, from what I’ve read, it could simply be him preparing for shed, and if it is, i would like to just leave him in his tub to finish the process. Attached is a link to photos of his eyes currently and then his belly yesterday. It looks a bit cloudy to me, but obviously it could just be me imagining what i want to see. Oh and just a side note, he has been very active at night, I heard some bumps last night, but the tub is aprox 20cm in height, so I doubt he can get hurt falling around in there.

Is your heat pad controlled by a thermostat??

[Ella18]

Is your heat pad controlled by a thermostat??

Yes it is