Our new snake's prior owner fed it hopper mice, which we've continued. We got it last Tuesday, it ate the next day, and again today (Monday). I've read here that a snake's meal should be 10%-15% of its weight (120g), which would be 12g-18g.

However, both times it took about 45 minutes to an hour to get the 8g f/t hopper mouse properly positioned in its mouth to swallow, going tail first. Each time there was a leg sticking out, making it difficult to get into the mouth. Today it struck IMMEDIATELY, but then struggled to position it. After swallowing, the bulge was visible in the front half, but was hard to see when the mouse reached past the halfway point. (Is that an indication that the mouse was too small?) So, my question:

Is 45 minutes a normal amount of time? If so, I'll happily get the next size up. But if this is an unsually long time of struggling, I'm hesitant to go bigger and make it even more difficult.

What do you folks recommend?