I put in in the girls cage just before I put the male in myself, when I put him in the cage I pretty much set is head so he was looking at it, lol. A younger male would work I think, but again, give him a few tries, its going to be a long couple of months for all of us = S. As for the feeding you just don't want to wear him out, if he continues to refuse to eat but looks fine then no problem but if you note significant weight loss it might be time to give him a longer break. The size of your male would determine what significant weight is. You don't want your male to get really thin.
Couldn't hurt, lol. Probably wouldn't help either.