I've had my BP for 3 years now. He is still feeding on mice although he has taken a small rat a few times. My feeding technique has always been to dangle the food from tongs until he comes out of the hide. This can take awhile. If he does actually come out (or poke his head out at least) I try to entice him by dancing or dragging the item across the substrate to simulate movement. He is super timid though and startles fairly easily where if it gets too close he will retract, sometimes completely back into his hide, other times just a few inches starting the process over again.

I recently went out of town and had my friend (a new baby BP and first-time snake owner) feed my snake while I was gone. He reported having no trouble feeding my BP and when I asked how he did it, he basically said he shoved it more or less in his face. Reluctant but willing to see if I could replicate this I tried and got it to work. What I did was lift up his hide, and dangle the food directly in front of his face and following him if he recoiled away from it. He quickly strikes and eats the mice using this method.

Is this OK to do to the snake? I imagine if it were too stressful he either wouldnt eat it after striking, or would regurgigate, but they have all stayed down. Is it ok to continue with this method?