Using a large Rubbermaid container did me wonders when I had a pair of BPs that would only eat live. I learned a GREAT method for feeding live to maintain safety for my snakes. I figured this out after just once seeing a rat trying to bite my snake when it wasn't interested in eating. I would put the rat in the container in front of my couch, wash my hands, pull out my snake, and sit on the couch with the container in front of me. After just a couple minutes the snake would smell the rat and begin to slither down towards it, all while I'm still holding it. The snake would coil into it's "S" pose in mid-air near the bottom of the container. When the rat came near it would strike and lift the rat in the air while coiling around it. It would then hold onto the side of the container while constricting the rat. By the time the snake would uncoil the rat's head would already be on it's way down the throat. This method would guarantee that the snake would never be within the reach of the teeth of the live rat. This is probably the way I'll feed from now on unless I ever get an exceptionally "bitey" snake.

"Keep on herpin"