They threw the rat in the cage with the mice and I left him in there for about 10min before I took him home. He went home in his own container (Ella is my only live feeder so this was the only live feeder I took home today). So the rat got scented by mice while crawling around with the mice in their somewhat dirty bedding. Worked like a charm!

If your local shop won't put the rat in with the mice for a bit before you take it home, ask them for a scoop of dirty mouse bedding to take with you. You could do that and drag your f/t rat through it a few times right before feeding to scent it. Hope you get it to work for you!

BTW, if your snake has regurged, you should wait at least 2 weeks before attempting to feed again. Give your snake a chance for its stomach to heal before it has to digest another meal. Also feed a smaller meal and stick to the mice for the next couple of feedings too so as not to over stress him.