Quote Originally Posted by rlditmars View Post
Can't say this will work for you but I had one snake that would only eat animals that were warmed to proper temps and then simply left for her. If I presented it, she backed away or did defensive strikes. So one day I just got tired of it and decided to leave it overnight. To my surprise, it was gone. Had to do that for a few months and even then it was occasionally hit or miss. She is now taking live rats regularly. I know you say you can't get live rats but perhaps once it gets eating regularly, you'll find something that works. Good luck.
This is what I normally do, actually. He is the same- intimidated by tongs and live mice. Live rats are genuinely not an option for me, unfortunately.