im not sure, but i believe i read somewhere that newspaper CAN be detrimental to ball pythons if used as a substrate, because of the ink being so transferrable (have you ever washed a window with newspaper and vinegar water? the ink gets all over your hands. it cleans windows great though...) so im not saying its bad, just thought i'd put it out there. i use paper towels myself...
with the feeding problem, what i did, was take a prekilled rat (i had a HOG that would not eat at all) and put it half in, half out of his hide, right before lights out. i checked a couple hours later, fully expecting the rat to still be there, and all i saw was a tail hanging out of his mouth. i haven't heard of the chicken broth idea though, i will have to write that down...does anyone know if there are any adverse effects when using the chicken broth?

good luck!!!