Please help me feed my yellow rat

Hello,
I recently acquired a female yellow rat snake. She is currently 17 months old and 29 grams.
We have had her two weeks as of tomorrow. We offered her a FT pinkie a week after she got here. She refused. We waited 5 days, again she refused. That was yesterday. We have tried tease feeding, heating the pinkies, cup feeding overnight, no luck as of yet.
She's been kept in a 20 gallon aquarium with 5 secure hides. The tank is in a low traffic area of the house.
It has been suggested that her enclosure is too large and that she should be kept in something like a 5 gallon. How would be the best way to heat such a small container while still offering a thermal gradient. I seem to be able to get the whole box the same temp. And if I can get the heating figured out, how long should I expect to have to keep her in the 5 gallon before I can move her to something larger?
I have had suggestions of slicing, braining, bagging, scenting, and offering anoles or frogs.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for any help.

Smaller Cage with temps 70-73 cool end, and 82-85 warm end.

If tank/cage is too small to achieve them gradients then do a single temp throughout the entire setup of around 82. After you change to smaller setup, wait yet another week for her to settle in.

Get a LIVE pinky mouse, and drop it in at night time and leave it alone till morning. Dont check on her or anything till morning! And be sure to put the live pinky NEAR one of her hides so she dont have to go looking or it.

She can Stay in a 5-10 Gallon for a good 3-6 months depending on how you want to feed her.

thanks Rich,
Will giving her the live pinkies be a long term thing?
If I leave her in there for 3 to 6 months, will I have a similar problem when I move her to a larger enclosure?

Originally Posted by poomwah

thanks Rich,
Will giving her the live pinkies be a long term thing?
If I leave her in there for 3 to 6 months, will I have a similar problem when I move her to a larger enclosure?

No gradual move to larger setup as she outgrows other will not affect her, but still need the 1-2 week settle in time when upgrading sizes.

Live pinkies could be long term but not always with cloubrids as they are pigs.

If she takes a live pinkie, feed her those for a few weeks, 2-4 then offer her a warmed f/t pinkie or small fuzzy.

And I think she is a very pretty snake.

thanks for the advice , I really appreciate it
Thanks Melissa for the compliment, I wish I agreed. Never did like that white snout that some yellow's have. But, what are you gonna do right?

The white must be more obvious in person than in your picture.

She will start growing at a more rapid pace once she starts eating more often & her food item is increased.

its just one of those things I never liked about a lot of yellow's
I'm not going to let it effect how I care for her though