Don't bother the snake for a week. Keep the enclosure very dark, use a towel or something to keep the light out. Give it a live rat pup with its eyes still closed. Weigh the prey and pick one 9 to 12 grams and drop it in very quietly at night. Leave the rat pup in there, no peeping, for 2 days. After 48 hours check the tub, the pup will either be gone or dead but can not hurt your snake with closed eyes. If it does not eat it, clean the enclosure give fresh water and repeat. I would try that two or maybe three times then move to assist feed as opposed to force feed or tube feed. That at least lets the snake swallow on its own. If you move to assist feed, choose a rat pup closer to 9 grams. There are a ton of posts on how to assist feed but me, I grab the sake by the head, pry the mouth open with the prey's (nice and warm) nose, then put the prey in the mouth as far back as I can without shoving down the throat, then hold until the snake starts to chomp. This may take several tries. I usually only try 5 or fewer times before I call it quits for a few days. After they have taken a few assist feed meals they will start to wrap the prey after it is put into the mouth. This is the signal that they are ready to kill their own meal. Good luck.
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