I have this bias against mice, so I am fine with throwing them into the jaws of my Ball Python (Thomas) when he gets hungry (he's on live). But people tend to think that mice are bad for balls, and that you're supposed to feed them rats.

I like feeding my ball live because it provides him with still some natural sense of being an animal, and I get to know what it's been eating and how it has been living, and to me it's like fresh vs. frozen vegetables. But the problem is, I'm fine with giving him live mice but I honestly love rats and think they're absolutely adorable and hilarious little things. I would never want a mouse as a pet, but a rat would be something I would grow an emotional attachment to.

Can my BP thrive on only mice (multiple mice per week, he's been getting hungrier lately) and still be healthy? I want him to be healthy and happy (if snakes can even feel 'happiness'), but at the same time I don't want to be feeding him something that I find cute. Which may mean I just shouldn't have a ball.

He's been getting very hungry lately, so I don't know if I should just give him multiple mice or feed him rats...I'm at a crossroad right now. Does anyone have experience with this?