My New Retic WILL NOT EAT! Someone help me out here!

[KyleKennedy]

Hello everyone this is my first time on this site. I created an account because I am in desperate need of help and advice from experienced retic owners. I owned a 7 month old tiger retic since it was a just a month old, but two weeks ago I traded him for a 7 month old mainland male. Now I am started to think I got screwed on this deal. My tiger was a great eater, ate every week, shed perfectly every time, and was already about 5 feet long. I loved this snake, but I always wanted to own a mainland. So about two weeks ago, I ended up trading him for a mainland. Anyways, let me start off by saying the mainland I acquired was very small for his age, only about 4 feet long and rather thin. I didn't think much of it because I know all snakes grow at their own pace. Anyway, he was in the process of shedding when I got him. I left him in his new enclosure overnight and the next morning I noticed he had shed pretty good. That same night, I offered him a live large rat (the previous owner said he ate both live and f/t large rats weekly, but I'm starting to doubt it). The snake didn't even make an attempt to go after the rat. He just strikes at it, kind of like a defensive strike and then retreats back into his hide and doesn't come back out. After about 30 minutes of not showing interest in eating, I took the rat out. Few days later, offered the same rat again. Still nothing. Few strikes here and there and then slithers back into his hide. After that, I did not mess with the snake for a week. Offered him the rat again, and still does not show interest in eating. I even killed the rat this time before offering it to him, yet still does not appear interested. I am getting very worried now. I know young retics eat whenever food is available. My tiger ate was eating every 5 days without hesitation, but this mainland hasn't ate for two weeks. I tried to get in contact with the previous owner, but he is ignoring my calls. I am thinking he knew he screwed me. Something is wrong with this snake, but I do not know what.

I have him in a 30 gallon breeder tank, with a 100 watt heat lamp on the hot end, and a heat mat underneath the tank. Humidity is at a constant 68-74 degrees. Hot end is 94 degrees, cool end around 74. The temps and humidity are perfect. I have him on aspen bedding and there is a huge water bowl in the middle of the tank that gets cleaned daily and a buffalo skull hide.

This is the exact set-up I had the tiger in, and he never gave me any problems.

Any suggestions on what I can do to make him start eating? Anything I am doing wrong? This is my 2nd retic, first was the tiger. So I am still an amateur at owning retics, but I did plenty of research and spent lots of money to make sure they have the perfect set-up and eat regulary.

Any help would would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.