I had rats as pets before I got my snake. I have 4 males who are great pets...also breeders. The females however are too skittish, and tend to get very nippie when they have babies, I only like one of them. The mice I have, if they come out with an interesting color/pattern they get to live, they become breeders, and may be snake food when they are old.
Everting dies, and with a short lifespan like rodents it does not bother me that much. But I could never feed a snake my 4 fave boy rats, also I don't think my little 1yo bp could handle a 2-3lb rat (my boys are big)