my girl did the exact same thing about 2 feedings ago...i held the rat's head back away from the snake & gave it the tip of my pen to chomp on. my girl threw another coil around the rat when she knew she wasnt killing it quick enough.
the most interesting feedings we've had were when the initial strike & coil landed both the snake & the rat IN a water dish with the rat's face submerged...whoo-wee i've never seen a rat fight so hard as one that's being drowned.
poor little things.