my ball (male) fasts every winter
This season he fasted from 1/12/09 to 6/7/09
I have found that he will only strike at a very small prey item when he breaks his fast. I offer fuzzy mice, and once he takes one I follow up with regular size prey. If I offer full size prey when he is still fasting, he seems intimidated by it. Fuzzy mice don't seem to scare him, and around this time of year he eventually takes one.