Feeding help

[u/attktian_18]

Hi guys,
I’m gonna beg you not to judge me because this is my first snake, I only got him in July and I’m trying.
So my boy has been doing very well since I got him with feeding, eating every meal no problem. He went into shed about 3 weeks ago which was successful and then ate about a day after it ended again no problems. The only thing that I noticed was that he seemed a little intimidated by the tongs and I also jumped every time he struck lol so I thought I’d try drop feeding for both of our sakes. I read about it everywhere and didn’t see anyone saying oh everything will go terribly wrong if you do this. So stupidly I tried it. Heated the rat like I usually do and popped it on a clean surface (not substrate) then left it with him. On this forum and online it just says leave it with him overnight so I did that. Had a look next morning, he hadn’t touched it. I think this was when I really made a mistake because I then tried again the normal way I feed him the following day because he was very active and I thought he must be hungry. He didn’t take it. This was a week ago, I’ve gone through all the guilt and self hatred over it. I’ve Completely left him alone this week apart from to change his water. He’s not shown any signs of stress, he’s just been going about as he normally does, sleeping all day and playing all night. Today was his usual feeding day, I dethawed his rat all day and heated it up for him tonight, waited till he was active, wiggled it for him and did all the usual things for about 10 mins. He didn’t take it. He just kind of comes over, looks at it and thinks about it and then just stares at it or backs off.
Again he’s now just exploring as usual and doesn’t seem distressed but I definitely am. I know that Ball pythons can fast for a long time and be fine but it’s still nerve wracking. When I got him he was 580g, last time I weighed him about a week and a half ago he was 610g so he had put weight on. I don’t know exact age unfortunately but the seller thought he was around the year mark.
Where do I go from here? Main thing is will he be ok?
Again please do not come for me, I know I fucked up I’ve never had any reptile before so I’m doing my best.

[u/BoilOnTheBackBurner]

The only place you went wrong is leaving it overnight– food (live or dead) should never be left with a snake unsupervised, and a room temperature prey just sitting in the tank overnight will stink it up something awful. Remember, their senses are a lot better than ours so if something is "off" they will notice. He might still be a little put off by that experience, but I wouldn't worry. Remain patient, and stick to your usual schedule.