What are your tricks?

[T_Sauer]

Not that my BP will take a f/t rat regardless of where I hold it, but... Holding it by the back of the neck will make the heat signature look more like a live mouse than the weird vertical posture it'd have being dangled upside down.
You wouldn't think that'd make a huge difference, but I have a couple snakes (non-BP) that have to have food offered held behind the neck. If they can't figure out where the head is supposed to be, they just freak out and refuse to eat.

I also agree with this theory ... The way I look at it the lower to the ground the prey item is the more likely the snake is to be less intimidated by it .... For instance a med rat on all four legs is maybe 3 inches tall, to where if the rat is doing a headstand it is somewhere around 6 to 7 inches tall (more intimidating to some snakes) .... This is not always the case as some are more timid than others .. I have some snakes that I can barely get the f/t in the tub before the snake snatches it ... Just a way I look at it, every snake is different

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Does it matter where the mouse / rat is held ? I read that they don't have great eyesight and that relied on their infrared heat pits and they just saw the orange glow ...

Correct however it is about mimicking the natural movement of the prey versus dangling the prey by it's tail and based on what I have seen it works with the most stubborn ones so that is a trick I would not dismissed.

Obviously the eat signature of a dangling a prey versus something that is moving like a live prey will be different.

[queenelvis82]

I do the same thing. I put some rubber tubes on the end of the tongs to soften the blow in case she misses her prey.

[Reinz]

That is strange about the body position of F/T.

I feed live dangling by the tail.

I found this works safer for My snake, rather than let rat run loose.

[Zincubus]

That is strange about the body position of F/T.

I feed live dangling by the tail.

I found this works safer for My snake, rather than let rat run loose.

Have you seen the other thread where the rat repeatedly bit his BP ?