Changing the scent can help the snake realize that the pinky is food. I once tried to feed a red-tail boa a chick, but it did not seem interested. I thought the chick was a goner when it hopped on the snakes head, but nothing. The snake just sat there. After about half an hour of watching the chick hop around, I dropped a mouse figuring that I would be able to remove the chick when the snake went for the mouse. I seemed to work, since the second I dropped the mouse, he was ready to strike. The only problem is that the chicken saw the mouse at the same time, and went to peck at it. Not sure why them the chick would peck the mouse, but when the snake saw the chick attack the mouse, he decided that if the mouse was food, that the chicken must also be food. He ended up eating both, and I never had a problem feeding him chicken after that. Guess the mouse tasted like chicken or vise versa.
Jason