So, I found an appropriately sized pre-killed frozen rat today and bought it (way overpriced but I wanted to try and see if I could get my 4 year old female BP to switch over) and have had it thawing all day. When it was completely thawed, I heated it to get it warm under her heat lamp so it'd show up on her heat sensors, and left it laying on the exposed area of screen next to her heat lamp to prescent. I later went through normal feeding procedures, and while she initially showed interest, after poking at the dead rat for a few minutes, she refused to acknowledge it, even when I used a pair of tongs to wiggle it a bit for her. She showed no interest at all, so I decided to leave it in with her for a little while, to see if she'd try it, but she's ignoring it. For some reason it's bleeding through the nose; could that be why? I know it's warm and totally thawed.
She IS in shed at the moment, but I've previously had her feed for me when she was so far in shed she could hardly see, and without any hesitation, so I'm pretty sure that's not the problem. She has always been a very good eater, and up til now never refused an offered meal. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could convince her it's really food?