so i didnt handle him for the whole week, and kept the temps and humidity in goodstanding, tried to feed him today and pretty much got the same problem. the weird thing is, hes hunting. hes not trying to escape out of his cage, but roaming around the cage floor, i put him in my bed, and hell hide and peak his head up and look around as if hes hunting as well. i tried putting him in a different box with the rat, after 20 minutes of ignoring it, he struck at it, but didnt grab it and coil. he then proceeded to climb halfway out of the box and hunt outside the box. this is pretty strange :\

i couldnt get a gerbil or one of those african rats as theyre not sold around me, so i tried with a small rat again...

should i just keep trying every week, as i have been, and not worry?