Trying to figure out why she randomly won't eat

[Zincubus]

I'm trying to figure out why my ball will sometimes strike at the food and sometimes not

My method is to thaw the rat in the fridge overnight and into the evening of the next day
Then I'll take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temp
Then blast it with a hair dryer until the skin registers 100+ with a temp gun
Towards the end of warming it up I'll open my bedroom door so she can smell it and get in feeding mode
I'll know she does because she'll perk her head up and start sniffing the air much more aggressively
The I'll bring the rat into my room and lower it into her tank using long metal forceps

Sometimes she will strike at it as I'm lowering it into the cage
Sometimes I will lower it in, wiggle it a bit and she strikes it
But sometimes I lower it in, she expressed much interest in the rat coiling up into an S-shape but never striking at it. Sometimes I'll re-heat it and try again with success but most of the time at this point she doesn't go for it

Maybe there are some other factors I'm not noticing but I think I keep all other factors the same. I wonder if it's related to how I warm it up or how I hold it or something totally different...any thoughts?

Just one thing ... some just do so much better with WARM food up but by the time you've warmed the rat up , opened the room door , gone in , opened the viv etc etc I'm guessing the rat temperature will be very low again ...

I feed evenings as you do ... low or dim lighting . Wait until the Royal /Ball has been settled under a hide for a while then warm the rat up right NEXT to the viv with the viv door open .. blast with hairdryer SD you do but offer INSTANTLY.. dangling the still warm rat in front of the hide entrance..

Just a thought


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