Some snakes will eat it if you leave the rat in there. My mojave male will strike and almost always hit the middle, constrict it for 10+ minutes, and then spend 5 to 30 minutes (or longer!) figuring out how he's going to try and eat it. A lot of the time he eats them backwards or at an angle, but if I just leave it with him overnight he'll take care of it 90% of the time