I know that feeding them to other animals is nature taking its course just as much as breeding rodents for that purpose is. But the idea of breeding animals as pets only to dispose of the ones that aren't fancy colors makes me uncomfortable. It reminds me too much of all the purebred dogs that suffer from known genetic deformities, just to produce the rare handful that can win shows; the same kind of story happens with horses, and other animals that we breed for superficial traits. Sometimes animals suffer because of inbreeding, sometimes it's because a desired trait is genetically linked to a potentially disabling one, and sometimes it's just because they aren't fancy looking. It's really unfortunate that an animal with a life expectancy measured in decades is sold for less than a burger at the pub down the street.

That said, I did just bring home a lesser pewter bp this week instead of a normal... even though actually I was half thinking about calling a breeder and offering to buy a normal for the same price, lol.