sorry for the absence. thank you all for the replies, my temps stay in the mid to high 70's on the "cool" side and mid to high 80's on the hot side with a humidity around 50-60%.
as far as fresh killed, i have tried it and it has never worked for me. again, i dont know if im not presenting well or what.
the reason for feeding live is, that is what works more often than not and i can return a live rat to my supplier in exchange for a card which i can come back later and use to get another rat.
and finally the reason for removing hides is because the rats tend to run in them and stay there and im just trying to make it easier for the snake to eat