Okay, so I am looking for more tips on switching an 8month old (ish) pastel to frozen when he's been eating live. I have not been handling him since I got him (2/17), but I offered a thawed mouse last Sunday. He did not take it, so I left him alone until tonight (unlike my female who didn't seem to need much acclimation time, this boy is very shy). Tonight I had a rat pup. I rubbed a thawed, warm/hot mouse on the rat's and had kept the rat's little plastic cage over the tank to prime the snake with the scent. I stuck the mouse in on tongs and the pastel struck after a while, but mostly defensively. Wouldn't go for it.

So I put the live rat pup in the cage and within 5 seconds, the snake attacked. I didn't even have time to clear the crumbled newspaper in the tank, so I couldn't/didn't see what happened. Oh, but I heard the screaming.

Live feeding is not for me. I have nothing against the practice when done safely. Unfortunately, I am weak of constitution and couldn't handle it. I feel like I pick my pets according to what I can give. I don't own an iguana, because I don't have the time and energy necessary to please them. Likewise, I don't believe that I should be brought to tears when I feed an animal I do care for. As a result, I am wanting all the advice I can get on switching him over--or I am going to have to find him a home that can suit him. I can get away with this type of partially supervising his feedings while he's still on rat pups. Once he gets older and needs bigger rats, I won't have the luxury.

So what do I do? I have heard the suggestion that I thaw and refreeze a rat to make it extra smelly. I have heard the idea to feed him live for a few months just to condition him to eat the food and then eventually he'll eat whatever I throw in there. I have heard to leave him in a cloth bag in the tank with the dead warmed rat pup over night (and he'll eventually eat it). I have heard to offer f/t pups exclusively over and over until he finally accepts, the idea being that he will get hungry enough eventually to eat them (and because BPs can go so long in between meals, that such won't be cruel and tantamount to starvation).

I am wanting to try something that will work, but I don't want to hurt the snake. Ultimately, it's care/health comes before my own as it did not choose to be a carnivore under the care of a vegetarian with an over-abundance of "it can't die with me listening" hypocritical conscience. What should I do, besides calm down? Obviously, the rat pup feeding was none too long ago, and I am still shaken.

Thank you in advance.