Ok i've had my ball for close to 2 months now. He's about 550 grams. I've fed him live consistently every week. I usually feed him good size adult mice. Last week i fed him a small rat and he took it no problem. Well this week i went to feed him and he would get close to the prey, do the S, then the rat would go to sniff him and my ball would back off. And the 2 attempted strikes didnt go as planned and he didnt get the rat. And thinking the rat was too big i switched back down to an adult mouse today and he did the same thing...slowly crept up to it, S, the mouse would turn and look at him and then my ball would back off real quick. I am confused and frustrated as to whats going on?? What can I do so the feed is successful, because i want to keep feeding live.
thnaks everyone`

My setup is as follows:

-32 quart tub
-UTH on warmside set to 94 with herpstat
-newspaper substrate
-cave hide on warmside-
-water dish on coolside
-infared light
- 92.5 hot side; 81 coolside; humidity 61%