I've been feeding live for a few months and Perry hasn't had a problem. Mind you she has a BIG attitude when it comes to feeding. She is a sweetheart until it comes time to feed. If it was a random 'fasting' i would say your snake just needs to deficate and 'make space' for more food. Perry was doing that earlier this week until she had a 70 gram defication. I just fed her tonight and she took it like i hadn't fed her in weeks which is a very typical response for her. Like i said, the girl can put the food down. I live in a house with non snake lovers, snake haters is the better description, and they won't let me keep f/t in the freezer because it grosses the boys in the house out The place where I get my rats told me that baby rats and small rats don't tend to fight as much as the medium and large rats so it's up to you. IMO, they were made to kill and to take a fight from a rat so they are perfectly equipped to take one on. I'm no pro but I've done both live and f/t and there's not a huge difference from what I've seen other than your snake gets to act on instinct and pretend he/she is the Hulk for a few minutes. Start small and don't leave the cage until the food is COMPLETELY dead. Hope this helps some.