Thank you all so much! I am receiving a lot of hate from the people I live with for doing this My fiancee won't even talk to me. She is horrified and says I'm going to make her snake cage aggressive and now she will never be able to hold him. KEEP IN MIND, I touched the rat with my hands to entice him after he let it go and didn't eat right away, and he showed no signs of biting. He calmly let me stick a moist towl in his mouth to remove the gunk and then promptly resumed eating. Aggressive my rear end!