I brought my new guy home last Sunday the 2nd. The breeder said it would be ok for me to try to feed on that following Tuesday. Also after talking to the breeder he said if I wanted to switch to rats I should try sooner than later to get him switched. So on that Monday I stopped by and got 5 pinkie rats and 5 hopper mice, thawed out 1 of each together on that Tuesday thawed them out in warm water then hit them with a hair dryer, the mouse first and it was a no go, seemed really curious but no bite. So then after reading several methods I tried "coating" the pinkie rat in mice fragrance!!! Still no go , then afterward I tried with the mouse and still no go , I felt he was SOOOOOO close to striking but didn't take the bait. So I waited till today 7 days from the day of getting him 5 days since I tried to feed. I have since realized I probably should have just waited the 7 days or so before I tried the first time..... Only did it cause the breeder said it should be fine, also tried the rats since he said try next time ,better sooner than later. Well after getting a second opinion from a BP.net member, he said for now, from the move and all the commotion of settling into a new home to stick with what he knew and feed mice until later on, then worry about changing. Well I agreed fully and here we are tonight my first official week with my new guy having seen him about 5 times in this week only to change the water and make sure he wasn't laying in waste. I thawed him out a hopper mice then hit it with a hair dryer. I've also read endlessly about what time of day to feed blah blah blah (seems its all opinions and its whatever works best as all snakes are different). I liked the idea of turning the lights out for about an hour with the mouse in the close vicinity. So I did just that thawed it out room temperature for about 2 hours then turned off the light for about 45 mins to an hour with mouse still in range thawing. I then hit it with a hair dryer for a min or 2 got it nice and warm . Opened the lid with closet light off but background bathroom light on, and danced the mouse in front of the hide for about a minute. I was sure he was in the warm hide as he was yesterday.... But nothing so I lifted the hide and he kept his head close to the ground and almost like a young child that is afraid of the parents friends he hides behind moms leg, well his body was moms leg. So I dangled and danced the mouse around without touching him and he stayed there face hid not coming out for anything. So I started lightly touching his side with the mouse and I got a response he went from hiding to what the hell does this mouse think hes doing getting so close to me... His head came out and started to dance and get REALLLY curious as to what this mouse thought he was doing so close to him. Then for the first time of a BP owners life as im sure most of you can relate .... He struck at it ..... and missed.... Son of a gun. So I said ok I know he is willing to strike and I feel like i can get him to eat. Which is my main concern as im sure most first time owners that their snakes haven't eaten for them. So I take it back and warm it back up thinking maybe the heat has faded and he could lose interest. I take it back in there and nudge his sides again and he raises and gets really close to it and stares and finally strikes and hits it. I release the tongs and step out of the closet to let him have a little peace swallowing. I go and get my fiance and daughter so they can see him for the first time while he is side tracked swallowing his food. They come in for a second then leave. I watch from the distance with door cracked as to give him his privacy. I left for literally 30 seconds and came back and hes standing up the mouse mainly down his throat and just the tail bit sticking out. I watch again from afar outside the door. When he seems to have finished I scare fully went back over not wanting to stress or scare him and take his hide and put it back over him. The only scare I have now is please don't regurgitate . I know I know I overthink most everything when it comes to pets and I will look back on this and say boy did you overthink everything.... But I just want him to be healthy and comfortable so we can get to our hands on relation ship which hopefully can start sometime later this week after he has had at least 48 hours to digest. Thanks for reading all my rambling !!!!! right click open image in new tab. His picture on the way home last Sunday. I will take more but this past week was a no peek zone for him !!!