ok. so we went with the plan. sat the rat on top of tank for about half an hour. he was in his hide, head layed out when we came back in. dropped live rat in and he followed that fella all over the tank for about 30 minutes. would get nose to nose but never struck. after that he lost interest and more avoided it. we took the rat out about 20 minutes ago and heis now circling his tank again seemingly looking for it. hmmmmm. we were for SURE he was gonna take it a few times but didnt. even picked the live rat up and gave it a little tong wiggle for him b4 we put it away. we didnt hover, watched from a low distance. guess were gonna have to get used to this for a few months. just talked to a friend/distant coworker prior to feeding that said his male who hes had for 10 years routienly goes off food for 5 months out of the year. he recomended since its such a warm sunny day to take him out for a quick bask and try again 2nite. any yeys or neys on that one?