I agree w/ everyone on the fact of pre-scenting.
Rather then remove the hides I just place a pc of cardboard in front on the one Ozzy is not in. Then I will open his cage door and set the rodent box in there for a min. or two and if Ozzy is ready to eat he will stick his head out of the hide and be in the strike position, at which time I will let the rat loose on the far end of the cage and by the time the rat scampers over his way he strikes and coils so fast the rat doesn't know what hit him let alone get the chance to bite. I know that the pre-scent is what gets Ozzy so hyped up and ready to go.
It works!