Hey everyone. Got my first ball Python a week ago, it's a one year old male Lesser. I got it from a breeder who has always fed it F/T. When I picked him up last week, they told me it had been 6 days since the last time he ate so he would be due to eat soon. I decided to wait a week per the advice on this forum so the snake could get comfortable in it's new enclosure. I have only seen the snake once in the last week, it really loves it's rock cave hide and NEVER comes out.

Well it's now been a week (13 days since the last time the snake ate). I purchased an appropriate sized frozen mouse from a local reptile store, thawed it in a ziplock bag in warm water, then put the mouse under a heat lamp in the snakes room for about 15 minutes to "scent" the room a bit. I dangled the mouse in front of the hide the snake was in and got no response. I tried walking it around the enclosure a bit and finally just left it in there a few minutes ago sitting a few inches away from the hide.

Should I pick up the hide so the snake can't just hide in there and ignore the mouse? Should I put the mouse in the hide with the snake? Advice needed. Thanks.

Also, all my husbandry is pretty much perfect. I have an ambient temp of 78 degrees, humidity is 53%, and the basking spot ground temp is 88 degrees.