So here is the thing im a fairly new snake owner no problems at all, but after getting both my ball pythons off of live mice onto f/t rats to such a point where i can feed both like clock work.
Here is the thing i have noticed, temperature of the meal must be on point. I haven't had a refusal since and used a very interesting technique to switch the snake from live to f/t and worked like a charm, but thats a story for a different day, but because of this I only handle when cleaning , not even, I open the enclosures and let them come out by themselves. Normally i just lift the hide. This is enough to wake them and get them moving. Once im done cleaning i need to pick them up to put them back , so the actual handling is less then 5min twice a month.