I actually chased one of my snakes a bit too much with a rodent and that snake turned into a really picky eater for months. I'm betting since you tried to force feed you may have done the same thing. Personally I wouldn't feed live, maybe a small rat pup with eyes closed, but I've had a snake that struck and missed a mouse within seconds and that mouse because mean and went after the snake and bit it. I wouldn't recommend leaving a rodent with a snake unattended at all. I also found that if the rodent knows the snake is a danger that rodent will always be aggressive towards the snake. If you see a strike and miss and the rodent turns mean I always gas them and try fresh killed, then if they don't eat freeze it and try it again later frozen thawed.
My snakes never did good in glass aquariums, even with hides. They were always really stressed out. I prefer solid tubs that you can't see through at all. Or you could cover the glass with paper or something, maybe just leave a little peep hole on one end that you can look through.
I feed all of my snakes fresh killed and they all do great. I offer every 4-5 days now, if they don't eat within 30 seconds to a minute I move on to the next snake and try again in about 4-5 days. Not sure what is going on but all my snakes went off of food lately, some haven't eaten in about two months, but since I fed them hard they could probably go another two months and still look great!
I find it helps if you have more than one snake, I usually gas fewer rodents at a time, then start with the picky snakes and end on the aggressive feeders. That way I don't have any extra rodents left over (most of the time). And if someone doesn't eat then nothing gets thrown away.
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