honestly it is hard for me to have to hear & watch a rat pup die in my snake's grip every 10 days but my girl will not touch anything she didnt kill herself & i know this cuz multiple times i've ended up with a rat dying suddenly for unknown reasons prior to a feeding & i've offered them to my snake anyways & every single time she's refused it, even when i tried to make the rats appear "live", she's not one to be easily fooled.
now to avoid that uneccessary waste i only buy the rats on feeding days.