Still not eating and VERY active

[Dracoluna]

Yeah, the mouse does get wet. I keep them in a ziploc, but they get wet inevitably. I pat them dry, which is what I gathered other people did. I'll definitely try heating by other methods though. Never thought about the water reducing the smell, but it must. My BP seems more receptive to smell than anything else, and my main gripe about trying F/T is that even when fully thawed, they don't smell as much as prekilled or live.

And I'll resort to braining if I have to. Thanks for the info.

Snakes go strictly by heat and smell when it comes to what is food. If it's the right temp and it smells like a rat, they should be alright.

Forget a rat under a heat lamp for 30 minutes and that will smell much worse than live or prekilled. Last time I did that, the second I walked into the snake room, every head was out and a couple were striking the sides of their containers. Honestly, a live rat shouldn't smell that much different than a f/t. Neither should have a strong odor to them. You could always try 'overheating' a little like that and then letting the rat cool back to temp for him. It still had that strong rodent smell to it once it cooled to 'live' temperature. Better yet, let it cool in the room he's in so he's sitting there smelling it. That will also help get him into a more receptive feeding mood.

Also, just be patient. It took me a bit to convince Reg (adult male who'd had nothing but live all his life) that he really could eat the rat I was holding. It was warm, dry, and he could smell it just fine but it wasn't live like he was used to. I still have to do a little rat dance with it though I've found that just the natural bit that my hand shakes is enough to entice him. It makes it vibrate which seems to work better than dragging it around the cage as if it were alive and free to roam. Another trick I've used is to leave the lights off in the room and just use the light from my phone, pointed at the ceiling. It keeps them more at ease especially if they are just switching over.

Hope something helps. I realize that I've gotten lucky in all of mine switching over immediately to f/t but animals also have different personalities. Eventually, you'll figure out what works best for him and it will all be gravy from there.