Snake SCARED of mice/rats?

Hi all,
So Mars Bar is being our problem snake at the moment... He ate the first time we offered, one large mouse. He had been fed one XL mouse every 14 days, so we decided to feed him 1 large mouse every 7 days for two or three weeks before getting him on large weaned rats. The first time we fed him was at night, he refused it at first so I left it with him for half an hour or so (We feed F/T), came back and it was gone. The past two weeks we have offered in similar ways, but he refuses every single time. Today we offered him a large weaned rat and he also refused.
Now, I'm not so worried about him at the moment since he is a male, it is going into winter and he weighs 524g which is pretty much what he was when we got him, give or take. The thing is he seems scared of the mice and rats we offer him. Every time we try, he hisses at the prey, puffs up, and then curls into a ball. If we try and tap him gently with it, he recoils sharply. Has anyone else had a problem with their snake being SCARED of prey? What can I do to make him eat, if anything? How much should he loose before we should worry?
Also hot side is 32 celcius, cold side is 27 celcius, humidity is about 60% and he has two adequate hides that cover him albeit being a bit small.
Thanks in advance!

please don't poke him with the feeder. if your male is anything like mine, he has to WANT to eat.

have you tried the heat it and leave it method since its last success? with Yellow, when he's in his heat-it-and-leave-it mood, i have to heat the head much longer than when anyone else just wants to strike.

with Yellow, i know within a minute of presenting a prey item how the feeding is going to go: heat-it-and-leave-it method: Yellow BARELY pokes his snoot out, he checks stuff out from within the hide, then retreats and waits for me to leave it; strike method: it's already gone lol.

i say keep trying to heat it and leave it. in my experience, male winter fasting starts october/november but of course that's just my own experience.

i trust your temps and judgement, so try to just leave the prey. you might waste a few feeders but he might catch on after a bit.

keep us posted!!!