We acquired our first snake on June 12 (2 weeks ago). I did plenty of research on corn snakes, went to a reptile show and came home with a ball python. She's about 1.5 years old. I haven't weighed her yet, but she's about 3 ft. long and has some decent girth (close to 3" diameter at her largest point). I was told she ate the day before the reptile show; she was on a diet of live rats. Although I read some about the species, there was obviously a lot of information I did not know. I've made several errors over the past 2 weeks and am looking for advice on getting our snake back on track.

Error #1 - the first week we had her we held her every day, probably about 15 min per day.
Error #2 - we attempted to feed her after we had her for a week. We attempted a F/T small rat. We moved her to a separate tub and held the rat in with tongs. She approached the rat, but was not interested. I continued to try and entice her, but hit her in the head with the rat (that was the error). Now she seems much more head shy and scared in general.

We put her back in her cage and let her be for several days. We held her a few times this past week hoping to calm her so she knows we're not trying to hurt her (perhaps that's Error #3). Tried to feed her a live rat today (Error #4?). The rat was supposed to be 'small' but looked more like a medium size. Again, we had her in her separate container and introduced the rat. She seemed a little curious, but when the rat approached she recoiled in fear. She wanted nothing to do with the rat. After about 5 minutes, I removed the rat. Tried later with a F/T rat, but didn't take that either (I didn't hit her that time ).

So... I am looking for advice on what you think I need to do to get her back on track. We would like to reduce her fear (since it seems my actions have made her more fearful than she was when she got here) and figure out what to do to get her to eat. Thanks for your help.