Hello ,,, I am new to ball pythons and I've had my baby for a few months now, things have been going well until now

As soon as I put the rat (F/T, heated in warm water) into his cage he striked at the ground? He didn't even take the time to locate the rat or anything, just went for it and ended up with a mouthful of substrate. After having a good laugh, I got nervous.
I decided to try to offer the rat, in hopes that while striking or biting the rat, the substrate would fall out of his mouth, but I don't think this was the case. I couldn't really see what was happening because a branch was in the way but he ended up lifting up his head, uninterested in the rat, and swallowed maybe ? half a mouthful of substrate?? I'm honestly not sure how much he consumed.
I re-heated the rat and offered it to him again, he took it, laid on the rat for a minute, and then ate it (literally don't know why he just laid there, I am worried the amount of substrate he just ate was bothering him).
He decided it was a brilliant idea to drag the rat across the cage, covering it in substrate. I got really anxious and started gently and slowly spraying the mouse with water with a spay bottle to remove the substrate, trying not to stress him (the spray bottle was on the single stream setting thing, so it was precise sprays lol). He ended up getting the rat down and then sat there yawning and rubbing his face on things because he had a bit more substrate in his mouth -.-

I know, in the wild they eat dirt and stuff all the time, however the amount he consumed worries me....
Hes just a little tiny boy right now, eating rat pups for size reference

I do not want to put him in a different cage to feed him because I don't want him connecting my hand with food. I heard of putting cardboard down when you feed? I am going to attempt that next time.

Here is the link to the substrate I use:
https://assets.petco.com/petco/image...28477-center-1

What do I do if he does get impacted? How do I tell?
Is striking at random things, without taking the time to locate the prey normal?
And what other things could I try to avoid this in the future?



This has never happened before because he has always eaten on his branch or in his water dish (which was equally as concerning at first, but then I realized that he was fine)
I love him so much, I just really don't want to do something wrong or make a fatal mistake with him :( Sorry if I ramble, I am just really nervous rn