The reason I ask is because my friend's (recently dead from an RI) ball python always fed on rodents from the same shop. The last two times I got feeders from there, they had colds (sneezing, making noise when they breathe). So I thought, could her snake have caught its illness from its feeders? Is it dangerous to feed a rodent with a cold to a snake?

I've heard that dogs can't catch colds off of humans, so my gut instinct tells me that snakes can't catch them from rats. Anybody heard of it happening?