I can't comment on attempting to remove the eyecaps: I have never had this issue.
In the rare event that I do have a ball python that has an issue shedding-I will put them in their appropriately sized water bowl (which is large enough for them to completely submerge in-if they want). The water level should be high enough that most of the body is below water, but, the head can easily rest on top of its coils above water. I will put a plastic lid with ventilation holes on top to keep the snake inside. I do this about 15-20 minutes/day until the shed comes off.
As for water temperature: I heat my snake rooms to 80-82F ambient so I don't need to mess around with water temperature. If you need to make a separate soaking tub you will have to adjust the temperature carefully because you can do a lot of damage soaking in cold/hot temperature water...ideally you would be between 82-88F. I would recommend using a digital thermometer to measure because you won't be able to determine the water temperature so precisely by the feel on your skin.