Check and see if the snake has a bite anywhere on his face that you can tell, but the blood probably belonged to the rat. Even f/t will bleed if they bite them just right, but a live one can be very juicy.
As far as his striking issues, it could be something serious like blindness, or less serious like retained eye caps, or his food could just not be warm enough, especially with the f/t attempts. The eyes are not the most important tool in feeding, it's the heat pits. If the prey isn't warm enough, that can't "see" them nearly as well.
His misses with the live prey could just be due to the fact that he isn't a ravenous feeder. Nothing wrong with that, some are amazing little hunters and some need a little coaxing. Try out some tricks to get him ready to feed. I only feed f/t, but I thaw the prey in a bowl of warm water on top of the tank. My snake smells it within a few minutes and she will start prowling around looking for it. I will also touch the mouse with my feeding tongs while it's thawing and then put the end of the tongs a few inches from my snake's face about 5 minutes before I offer the food. Her tongue starts going crazy and she gets all riled up and ready for it, which makes it far easier for the both of us.
If the food comes to them as a surprise, it can sometimes take them a while to warm up into predator mode. This can be dangerous with live prey, and annoying with f/t because it will cool off before they go for it and you will need to re-blowdry. So try ways to get your snake to smell food 10-20 minutes before he gets it. Works for me
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