Atticus once struck and coiled a mouse, so I walked away to thaw him a second one (he had eaten two when we first got him). When I got back with the second, it was to only find that he had spit the first one out. Oddly enough, he struck at the second one too. In the end he refused both, but he took one two days later. I think our loud music made him nervous. Your little guy has been through a lot worse than that, so maybe he just needs a little more time to get settled