I find ending up with a wasted mouse to be rather frustrating. My BP has only showed interest in live mice, though I have tried p/k and thawed in the past (I end up freezing them, trying again later, and untimately throwing them out). I hate wasting the little guys for no reason. I had hopes of slowly coaxing him over to f/th, though that hope was starting to fade.
So, today I got 3 mice for him with the intent of feeding them all live. I picked up #3 (who was a little skittish) and it looked like he was wheeling over to nip me. My reflexive instinct tossed him in the cage before he could do so, and his little noggin hit a half-log hide box. I was hoping he was just stunned (I've seen them recover from improper whacking before), but, nope, he was a gonner. Damn! What am I going to do with him now? Add him to my frozen collection of wasted P/k attempts?
I tried jiggling him on tongs, but that seems to scare the BP if anything. I had a theory that his heat pits can also see my hand, interpreting it as a ten pound mouse. Into the freezer, I guess!
Before I did so, I was sharing my frustration with my girlfriend.
Can't you just poke it with a long stick??, she said? So, I gave it a shot and used a long dowel (about 24 inches). I was about to give up, as it looked like he was more curious about the dowel than anything. Well, wouldn't you know it, he gently picks up the mouse with his mouth and takes it into his hide box and eats it there! Perhaps the dowel was long enough for him to not make the connection between my hands's heat and the mouse.
Needless to say, I am very happy about this accidental development. It's a great example of how to turn a source of frustration into a good thing. Hopefully this tip will help someone else get their BP to make the transition to p/k and ultimately f/th. 
