You're such a dedicated & caring keeper, Dave. How frustrating this must be to have such vague & conflicting information as "answers".
On the one hand you have your vet saying ..."the next step would be imaging, fearing that something more serious is going on." which is certainly
not comforting & makes me wonder what other things she has in mind? It's interesting that you also checked with Dan Soderberg for his input,
& for what it's worth I agree with his comment "that illness causes a sped up shed cycle and that's it's not random..." & also that "he thought it
was very interesting she's spending 90% of her time on the hot side, versus 10% historically." I also think that "illness" could include something
atypical that you don't always consider an "illness", like some sort of chemical exposure that messes with a snake's body...but how you track that
down is beyond me.I'd want to rule out an external bacterial infection for sure...you have to start somewhere & that's the most accessible. I hope you can get
this figured out & soon...