I breed my own rats; they are not much work. just feed em twice a day and spot-clean the cage, tearing down with bleach every week except for those cages with females that bave babies.
I euthanize the ratlets when they are the right size for my snakes, and then I freeze them. They stay frozen for at least a week before I thaw them for feeding.
my new '03, Bela, is still taking fresh kill mice, but since she is a year old now, I plan on switching her to rats soon. I would never toss a live mouse or rat in with any of my snakes; I have seen and read too much negativity about that. I have gotten bitten by a midsize female rat, and it hurt and bled! None of that for my snakes.