My Snake is about 8 months old & has been a great eater. I feed a live mouse 1x/week. He has eaten a couple small rats in the past with no problem.

Two weeks ago, he refused to eat a small rat. It was larger than any that he has been fed and the rat didn't move much. I assumed that it was either the size or lack of movement and exchanged it for a mouse the next day which he ate with no problem.

Four days ago, I got another rat that was also possibly a bit too big and also didn't move much. He again seemed uninterested, so I removed it after an hour or two.

Today, I got a much smaller rat that he could easily handle- this one is also much more active. It has been in the tank with the snake for an hour and the snake is not eating it.

It has sniffed it nose to nose, flinched, has slithered over it several times and the rat has climbed on him several times. The snake is now slithering around the tank and spending a lot of time at the top near the lid.

Otherwise, I did everything the same as I normally do- I removed the hides and all temps, humidity, etc have been steady.

How long should I leave the rat in? What might be the problem? What else can I do?

Thanks
Todd