Stubborn ball python, wont eat.

I got my ball python the other day and I was told it was eating live small rats. I had plans on switching it to F/T but this week I was going to go ahead and feed it live, and try a freshly killed next week. But I put the rodent in the tub with the snake and after about 15 minutes the snake struck and constricted it to death and spit it out and never touched it again. So I got the hemostats I use to feed my other snakes and tried to get it to take the rodent, but it wasnt interested. Any ideas? It has hides, I have let it sit undisturbed for 5 days, its healthy, so I have no idea whats wrong.

Was the prey the same size of the snake at the thickest part?

What the temps in the tank?

Yes, it was a mouse hopper. Perfect size. The pet store gave me a mouse instead of a rat though and didnt tell me. Think that might be the problem?

That very well could be. I would get what it is used to and try in a few days.

First off , how big is the ball python in question?

224 grams, approximately 1-1/2 to 2 feet long.

Mouse hopper? Do you happen to know how much it weighed? Hatchling BPs can usually take hoppers straight out of the egg.. I assume yours could eat an adult mouse with no problems.

How long did you leave the dead mouse in the cage with the snake before removing it? I have some snakes that won't eat until the dead of night. But by morning the rat is gone.