Hi, I'm wondering if someone could give me insight on the various behaviours of a ball python that is hungry or is in feeding mode. This might be a little long but I thought having some pretence on my situation might help.

I currently have a nine month old juvenile ball python(Unfortunately don't know her weight). I've had her for 2 weeks now. On the fifth day of having her I attempted to feed her at night. I left a f/t rat fuzzy outside of her hide, placed a towel over her enclosure, and left her for the night. I woke up the next morning very pleased after I saw that the rat was gone. I left her alone for the full 48 hours. Its been 8 days since that night and she hasn't accepted a meal since. I've executed the same procedure but she doesn't seem to want to eat.

In terms of handling, before the first successful meal, I handled her twice, the 2nd day I got her, and the 4th. I left her alone for the day that I was going to feed her. After her first meal, I left her alone for 2 days. After the two days, I've handled her about every other day aside from the days I've tried to feed her.

Ive attempted to feed her on the 6th and 8th day (after successfully feeding her) with no success. (She ate successfully on Tuesday night, which is why I fed her on the next Tuesday night; the 8th day). I know that she is due to eat because the rat that I gave her is a little bit smaller than what she should be eating(slightly larger or the same than the widest part of her body), and that juveniles need to eat every 5-7 days. Once thing I noticed about 4 days ago from today, was that around 8-9pm she would have her head and a little bit of her neck sticking out of her hide, slightly poised and in a slight s shape. She would not watch me/follow me. She would just remain like that for about an hour, looking straight ahead, and then hide again. A few hours later she would come out and explore like she usually does. And this has been consistent since. I'm wondering if this is her waiting for prey or something.

My husbandry is definitely up to par. I keep a hot side of 34 degrees celsius, ambient of 26, and cool side of 22. I know thats a little bit cold but I live in Alberta, Canada. I do use a room heater to keep the room temperature to 23 from time to time(mostly for me because it can get pretty cold). I've got a single entrance hide on each side, a water bowl, a climbing branch and foliage with enough ground space for her to stretch out. Her humidity ranges from 70-80%. I know 80 is a little on the high side but I find that when its lower she will hide under the damp towel that I use to keep up the humidity rather than using the other hides in her enclosure. She definitely seems happy and relaxed too. She hides all throughout the day and comes out for about 2 hours to explore at night before she hides again. She comes out more later on but I'm usually sleeping by then. She hasn't shown any signs of stress like pacing around the edge of her enclosure, excessively trying to escape, or consistently moving about during the day.

So I'm hoping someone could give me some tips on what this new behaviour that she has been doing means. (I have tried to feed her on nights that she has acted this way; 6th and 8th) As well as some other things that ball pythons will do when they're in feeding mode. I've done some research but always find the typical behaviours like tracking, and lots of tongue flicks. I've also looked into methods for getting a ball python to eat but the primary thing they'll always mention is husbandry, which I think I'm doing a good job on. However if there is something that I am doing wrong or something I should give a try please let me know. I was also wondering if someone might be able to answer; is there a way to put your snake into feeding mode? and if so how?. I have tried looking this up and have only really been told that I could make the room smell like rat or to thaw out the rat next to her enclosure to get her into that mode, although I found it didn't really work. Any information that you have helps a lot. Thank you for your time.