They are stupid like that, aren't they. I'm not up to rats yet but every mouse so far has been totally oblivious. One time one looked like it was uneasy about that big thing in the corner - but he ran over to it anyway.

I like to feed pretty much just like that - a big open flat space with the snake in one corner and the mouse in the other. Before I had it down the mouse would run all over the place and the strikes were unpredictable. Now, I always get a solid strike in the forward half of the mouse which leaves the mouse in a position where it can only scratch with the back legs and can't bite. The claws have absolutely no effect on my BP.