I agree with Marla. Feed a fresh dead rat and use some tongs to dangle the rat by the tail, snakes always respond well to movement. I have never made the switch to frozen thawed rats. The only way i would switch to frozen prey items is if the live rodents i am getting now have become unsafe somehow. I will probably get reamed by a few folks who feed exclusively F/T. But i still say that F/K is better then feeding live no matter how you look at it.