Pandora has been a very responsive feeder to both mice and rats, and live and frozen. She's never refused a meal and can eat two rat pups in one sitting.

A few feedings ago, I started spraying her food with some water to help aid in hydration. Since then, she started doing this funny thing where she constricts, and then dances around the prey nudging it with her nose until she finally eats it. Before then, she ate perfectly.

I decided to try feeding her frozen to see if she would respond because her last rat was very jumpy and gave her a few missing scales from very minor scratches. I put the rat in a bag, and placed the bag in hot water, then warmed the head with a blow dryer. Mind you, a professional blow dryer gets quite hot and I'm pretty sure the rat was more than warm enough when I offered it to her. Anyway, although there were no holes in the bag, the rat seemed a bit damp on the outside probably from the melted frost (?). She struck instantly but still did that funny nudging thing.

I'm starting to think that maybe I should start pre-killing her live prey. Is there ANY humane way of doing this other than using dry ice or freezing the rat or getting bloody? I'd continue feeding her live but as her prey gets bigger, I really don't want to take the risk with more serious bites or scratches. I don't know if there's any way to absolutely ensure that F/T prey is COMPLETELY dry when being offered. I keep her tank in my room so thawing the prey throughout the day or overnight may very well stink up my whole room. I know that I can put it in an airtight plastic container but then I can't pre-scent.

Anyway, how many of you actually feed pre-killed? Could there possibly be a reason for her doing this weird nudging dance around the rodent? It just bothers me because then the forgets where the head is after constricting it and starts biting it's bum or in the middle of it's body, even when I warmed the head up with a blow dryer. She eventually gets the point but it's still rather annoying to watch especially after all her initial feedings were perfect.

What to do... what to do...