You might also want to consider switching to f/t or p/k, neither of those options will risk injuring your snake.

If you must feed live, make sure you feed/water your prey item prior to introducing it to the snake, do not leave it unsupervised when in with your snake and be prepared to intervene if necessary.

Please also be prepared to either house the rodent in a decent manner if your snake refuses or to humanely euthanize it; most places will not allow you to return a feeder.