Tuna, chicken broth, or any kind of scenting using "smelly" foods will not work. It just won't. Why would a ball python be more enticed by a rat that smells like a fish? Or a rat that smells like a bird? It makes no sense.

Braining is basically just that...exposing the brain. I don't think this is very helpful either. It just makes a mess.

Not heating the f/t up enough is a common mistake. If it isn't warm enough, they won't see it as prey and they won't eat it. You can take a hair dryer and warm the outside of the feeder right before offering it. This also makes it smell very strongly which might provoke a better feeding response.

How many times have you tried with f/t? How old is the snake and when was the last time it ate? What size feeders are you using?

If you want to go the live route it is fairly simple. Remember, you need to supervise a live feeding. You can just drop the mouse or rat in and hopefully your snake will strike. Have some tongs ready in case you need to keep the mouse from biting your snake. If the snake does not eat the mouse in 15 minutes or so, just remove it and try again next week. If you don't want an extra pet, feed it to one of your snakes that will eat