I agree. a lot of people overestimate the size of food that a ray can actually fit in its mouth.
I just committed the same mistake myself 2 days ago while feeding my 10 inch tiger some large uncut prawns.
I noticed from underneath the tank, ( one of the advantages of a bare bottom tank )that the tiger is having hard time breaking the shrimp down so i ended up chopping it in half again.
People think I'm joking when they open my cabinet underneath my tank and find a small pillow. Many a night have been spent laying down on my floor watching my fish from below. I'm the type of person to always cut my food small. The ray benefits from it, that's for sure.
On another note, maybe try squid? I've been feeding it regularly for a few days now and my fish seem to eat much more aggressively compared to shrimp. Cleanup is a breeze and its very readily accepted.