Firstly thank you both for taking the time to reply, I appreciate your insights and value your opinions.
The discussion about frozen vs thawed was more around the process of keeping dead rodents in the freezer, then the process of thawing them (understanding that my wife is not totally on board) sounds like it is a bit more intrusive to a household than a live mouse. I was merely looking to some real world advice in that regard. Sounds like it may not be as bad as I think.
It is good to know that maintaining a separate feeding tank is unwarranted and possibly harmful to both the animal and the handler.
As for the comment of "people like you" that statement is ignorant. You do not know me and to make that judgment is asinine. This is probably the wrong thing for me to do but because those words are hurtful I will.
I currently have 3 rescue dogs which would be dead today without me. Last year my daughter and I successfully hatched and released snapping turtle eggs which were rescued from a local tree crew who wanted to throw them in the trash. I (and usually one of my kids tags along) regularly visit the local pound to spend time with the discarded and misunderstood pitbulls in a nearby city. My daughter volunteers throughout her whole Summer at our local nature center. I have rehabilitated and released several animals back into the wild. I also have a long list of volunteer efforts (both monetarily and time) in regards to animal welfare. This is a small list that I can think of while I type this message.
If I was the type of person who did not care for the animal, or who would release it into the everglades, would I be spending time researching and posting a lengthy note on a ball python forum? I would go to Petco with my Visa card and buy it on a whim, then put an ad on Craigslist offering it to the first person to show up with cash. The point of the conversation is that the reality of the situation is that children can and do lose interest in things (as a father of 3 this is a topic I do feel qualified to speak on). It can be a sport, a hobby, or even a pet. When they no longer care to play baseball you simply put an ad on Craigslist offering to sell or donate the gear and all of the equipment is gone - when its an animal you have more of a responsibility. I am not naive to think that this may not happen.
As for the husbandry aspect, the act of caring for the turtle eggs, watching them hatch - seeing that some are weak and some may even die was an invaluable lesson for my daughter and an experience she and I will cherish for our whole life. If the snake creates an interest in her to experience that I will encourage her to do so, and willingly pay whatever price it would take to make it happen within my means. I am fairly confident in my ability to find a responsible home for them if this is something she wanted to do. I have a regular job and never stated this was something I was looking to do to pay my mortgage, that was your assumption.
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