Shedding Trouble/Gasping

I have a juvenile red bellied water snake, born 8/31/09, that I got from a reptile show the first weekend in October. He's been eating well, and has has no problems until 2-3 days ago. I noticed him making a "clicking sound" and gasping, sometimes opening his mouth (not realigning his jaw).Despite all this, he ate several pieces of tilapia without a problem. Yesterday, I noticed that he looked like he might be trying to shed his skin. I'm not sure if this is his first shed or not. All I know is that it's the first time he's shed since I got him in October. Today, I noticed that the skin had begun to separate in patches, rather than just coming off like in a normal shed. I read on the Internet to soak him in luke warm water for 30 minutes, and how to appropriately aid him in shedding his skin. It went smoothly except for his head. I'm not sure if he shed one of his eye caps on his own, or if I was just only able to remove the left one. There was also some trouble getting the dead skin off of his bottom jaw. It finally came off with a little more soaking. He's still gasping with an open mouth which concerns me. What would cause this? Could he be aspirating on a piece of aspen bedding? I feed him on newspaper to avoid this. Also, I'm not sure how to tell if there's still an eye cap on his right eye. Will he shed it on his own, or is there something else I should do for him? I'm a novice snake owner, but I really love this little snake! Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It's probably a respiratory infection...you should get him to a vet if you have a herp vet.

Soaking the snake will help with retained shed, also try a product called "Shed-Ease", which is an emollient that will help your snake shed. This may be due to low humidity in the cage or poor health. Do not attempt to remove a retained eye cap if you are a new snake owner, have an experienced individual, such as a veterinarian or breeder, show you how to do this.

The shed issues are not your primary concern. If you suspect a respiratory infection increase the temperature a few degrees and take the snake to a vet as soon as possible. Also inspect your enclosure to ensure that you can maintain proper temperatures. Is it drafty or does the temperature drop at night? Clean the cage too, this will from re-infecting your snake.