And then they are scared to death. This has happened on maybe 3 of my snakes. They will give 2-4 quick strikes on a dead prey item (held either by hand or by tongs, has happened with both) and fail to grab hold of it. Then after that they just run away like they are afraid for their lives. Has this happened to anyone else? I get a better (at least faster) bite response when I do the dance, but if they fail to catch it on the first go the whole feeding time is a waste and I need to wait till they calm down.

So whats up with this? Am I just blessed with some particularly dumb snakes?