Don't remove the hide box!

Ball pythons are ambush predators, if you take out their hide box you leave them with no cover to hunt their prey from. Totally exposed, their stress level increases and so does the likely hood that they won't eat.

When you bring your rodent home from the store, don't immediately throw it in the cage. Instead, let it sit in the room with your snake, near the cage for 15-20 minutes. The sounds of the rodent and the smell will "wake up" your snake so that he/she is ready to eat when you drop the rodent in it's cage.

When you drop the rodent in, place it on the opposite side from the snake (or as far away as possible). This give the snake some extra time to get it's bearings.

In general, I usually find that older adult mice are far more aggressive than small rats, but rats seem to be more curious.

Feeding two mice is fine. Feed the first one using the tips from above and after your snake is done and "relaxed" again, feed the second. Never put two prey items in the cage at the same time.

If your snake does not eat within 30-60 minutes, it's probably not going to eat. Contrary to popular belief, during that time frame, a rodent (rat or mouse) is not going to just decide to "bite down" on your snake. Rodents are neither predators nor carnivores, so your snake will be fine for a short period of time.

-adam