Another failed feeding + Substrate in mouth

[Quarks]

Hey all,

Second feed attempt with my BP failed- I've only had him a little over a couple weeks, so this might be normal, but I'll put the conditions down here and see if anybody has any tips or can spot something I'm doing wrong.

I let the rat thaw in the fridge the day before, then let it sit on top of the cage to warm up for 15ish min before warming it up in bowl of warm water - he was out of his hide looking around right away when the rat was sitting on top of the tank- he's also been doing the thing where he has his head out of his hide in the evening for a few days now = hungry? I scheduled feeding time at 12am and he's usually up around this time of night.

Once it sat in warm water for 7 min I used a hair dryer (hottest setting) on the body with some extra time on the head and then dangled it by his hide (inside his tank) with some tongs. He was waiting for it, moving around, did the strike pose again, tongue flicking, and then nothin... Repeated the hair dryer process after his interest started to shift to the tongs, and he'd do this each time- act interested in the rat for about a min, and then point his head more at the tongs/my hand. Owner said he liked the rat to 'dance' so I did a bit of that but no go. Tired holding rat in tongs at different angles. No go. Eventually I warmed it up with the hair dryer one last time and set it inside the enclosure on a plastic lid and let the curtain down for privacy. Unfortunately while waiting, my partner lifted up the curtain to peek in (I didn't tell him not to lol, not his fault) and the snake immediately struck the glass. When I looked in on him 20 min later to see if I needed to warm up the rat or maybe just take it out (?) I saw that he had a big piece of substrate stuck in his mouth he was trying to get out. It's so big that he can't close his jaw properly. (a piece of bark) The rat's still sitting on the plastic lid in there, but I'll take it out in the morning before it starts getting funky..

Husbandry seems to be fine? His temps are stable from 86-77, and his hotspot surface is a stable 87-89 this week. Humidity is a stable 55%-59%, and he's definitely not in shed. Rats were gifted from previous owner so they're what he's used to. Hasn't been handled since I got him 2.5 weeks ago, and has a cloth over part of tank for privacy. Was worried he wasn't using his hides properly to regulate but he's doing great with them now. He sleeps all day and comes out for a little bit during the middle of the night and explores the cage. Water is changed every couple days, substrate is spot cleaned, ect.

Hungry but not striking-

Should I use something to get the substrate out of his mouth?

Ty for helping me out!

[Quarks]

Update- Should have waited another hour before making the post lol! Checked in and the rat has vanished Looks like that piece of substrate did too... Hopefully he got it out before eating, but if not... oh well?

I'll leave the thread up and if anyone has any advice about getting him to strike I am certainly still interested in that-

[Sonny1318]

Give him time not all are strikers. Glad he ate for you.