The reason I prefer to heat up in hot water is that the heat seems to penetrate throughout the rodent. Once the "outside" of the rodent cools, the core stays warmer, longer. Just like it would be in nature when an animal just dies.
I've never had good luck with the hair dryer and such methods. They heat the rodent really well, and fast, but only the outside of the rodent is hot, and it cools very fast again. To get the heat through and through you would have to blowdry for a long time, making sure you don't cook the rodent.
I'm sure that works for a some people, though, it just didn't for me, I prefer the hot water method.
Some people like one method over the other, for different reasons. Which is why its so great that there are different ways to go about this. What your snake prefers, you'll have to figure out
Try to get a rodent nice and warm. Don't offer it until late that night and just leave it with the head sticking into the hide and then leave the room, have it dark. No more disturbances.
See if that will do the trick
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