May the poundage ensue!

Often when they strike , coil (or not) and release but lose interest it's because they are reacting to the scent well but don't find they prey warm enough. Pop that sucka under a heat lamp right quick, sometimes touching the nose to the bulb real briefly. You can also get this reaction from overheating - but usually the tell-tale sign of that is a slight balooning in the stomach of the prey and sometimes they'll actually rupture. This happened to lil Benny this past feed and when he coiled the mouse popped a little on his neck when he made to constrict (was a smaller sized f/t than we were used to so it was inadventently overheated in the thaw). He had that paralyzed look of disgust like someone who had just stepped in something barefoot.