I normally feed my BP F/T, but sometimes if I'm at the pet store I'll pick up a fresh killed. Less work, no hot water bath, etc. I can just drop it in, do the wiggle dance and watch nature take its course.

But this past time, I must have been slow to drop in the rat. It was pretty much room temp by the time it found its way in the cage. The BP was curious. She sat in her stalker 'S' shape waiting for the rat, even though it was right in front of her. I wiggled that poor dead rat for what seemed like an eternity and the BP knew something was up, but could not seemingly realize that furry thing was food.

So I tried warming it up a tad. I dropped it in, and sure enough the snake was much more curious about this warm furry thing. But still no strike-coil-eat. Another 10 minutes of wiggle dance.

Finally, I dropped the rat in a hot water bath, really warmed it up, and upon trying to drop it in the cage the BP struck with great ferocity. It's like the lights were turned on. She hit it and hit it hard and it was gone in no time at all.

It makes sense, they do have heat pits. It was like when you're in a dark room walking around. You know stuff is around, but not sure where and you're trying not to stub your toe and then somebody turns on the light and you can see exactly whats going on.

It was learning experience for me, and I thought it might help anybody else with feeding issues. Mouse or rat temperature does matter!