Weird feed tonight that has me concerned. Help?

[Blizzard]

Okay so, I will first apologize for always posting threads about possible problems/concerns 'n stuff. I researched BP's for a good year before getting my first one, but there are so many questions that I cannot find answers to by searching, god knows I've tried. I hope that by learning about all the things I've asked so far I will hopefully be able to help others with the same questions one day.

Okay, so, this might have just all been my fault but it still has be concerned.
I've been on vacation for about a week, I had someone looking after my BP for that time but it didn't go farther than simply changing the water bowl. So, now that I'm home my boy Sam is definitely late on his food and seemed hungry. I will say firstly that this morning I DID handle him for a while since I missed him, though he displayed no signs of stress. (I usually like to leave them alone the day of feeding) I let him settle down the rest of the day and just fed. Now, this is where I got worried. I've had Sam for about 4 months or so and he has never missed a meal, always curls and will sometimes eat from the wrong end though. He's missed a strike once but it was my fault for flinching.

Tonight, however, he missed every single strike and a few times was wayyy off. After a minute of failed attempts he literally just gently took the mouse with his mouth and didn't even curl it! I'm so worried, I don't know why this happened or if this is normal. I haven't obviously been watching his behavior the past week since I was not home but he was acting normal while I was holding him this morning.

The only thing I could possibly think of, was perhaps the temperature of the mouse (F/T). After it thawed and was warm it got a little cold as I prepared things and had to find my tongs.
Is it possible he couldn't sense it well because it wasn't warm? Maybe no curl because it felt dead? This sounds farfetched to me but I'm just trying to calm myself down....

His temperatures and everything are ideal btw, like I always say. Sam is definitely less than a year old

He did eat the mouse after getting it

Another note, it has been I think a month and a half since he last shed, he DOES look a little dull perhaps but it might just be my imagination honestly.

If anyone knows anything about this or if this is normal, I would love so much to hear it

[SDA]

They don't always constrict. They are constrictor species but they don't always constrict. Could have been anything from you handling him to the temp of the mouse to just the stars misaligned. So long as he ate it really is just fine. Over time you start to understand the idiosyncrasies of your snake's eating habits and it gets second nature to know when they are ready to feed. Until they every feed is always a gamble at least in our minds.

[Blizzard]

They don't always constrict. They are constrictor species but they don't always constrict. Could have been anything from you handling him to the temp of the mouse to just the stars misaligned. So long as he ate it really is just fine. Over time you start to understand the idiosyncrasies of your snake's eating habits and it gets second nature to know when they are ready to feed. Until they every feed is always a gamble at least in our minds.

Thank you so much for this reply, and for always giving advice in general. It is really appreciated.

[Kcl]

If they think they can get lazy and skip the coiling, they will. Extra energy they don't need to use. You can actually tug on it a bit when they have it to convince them they need to "kill" it. Not necessary though.

[Momokahn]

+1 on good to go. My large male kind of goes through the motions of coiling with frozen thawed if he feels like it. Handling earlier in the day before feeding, I do it all tbe time and never a problem. My snakes are so use to being out and held they think nothing of it.

[DLena]

If you’ve been gone a week, and he looks a little dull, he might have passed the “blue” part of the shedding cycle while you weren’t home. Sometimes, at that point, my snakes will still eat, but they aren’t as accurate in their strikes.