does my baby just not know how to eat?

Ive attempted to feed my baby ball (around 4 months old) 2 times now. The first time he struck at the adult mouse within seconds of me dangling and tried to eat it for about 2-1/2 hours and then spit it out. The second time I tried again with a hopper and it took him a little longer to strike at it, but he eventually did and again it took him about 2-1/2 hrs to try and swallow it, until he spit it out. Both times it seemed like he didn't know how to swallow it, but the second feeding especially made me believe he didn't know how to eat it because he would spit it out and then go back and try again 3 more times. What does this mean?

The prey may be to big.

Do you know the weight of your snake?

What was it feeding on from the breeder?

Maybe someone will correct me, but maybe the food is too big for him? I read that they will spit it out if they can't handle it.

Did you buy him from a breeder, a pet store that specializes in exotics, big box store like PetSmart/PetCo, mail-order, or ?

Did the seller state that he was eating, and if so, what was he eating?

Go to WalMart or Target, get a kitchen scale that will measure his weight in grams, and find out how much that baby weighs. Then you can figure out an appropriate prey size.

My hatchlings usually take hopper mice as their first meal, but some folks have hatchlings come out tiny enough for mice fuzzies.