From my experiences striking at a food item isn't always a sure sign the snake will eat. I know many people on here have found that especially young BPs will strike and coil a food item, but then rapidly lose interest and not eat. To me, definitely doesn't matter if the snake strikes or not, the important thing is that the snake is eating regularly.

I've shared this a few times, but some of my most prolific eaters seem to be pretty 'lazy' during the process.