I never said they were bulletproof.
I've lost two to cancer. Something Texas A&M couldn't identify. So yeah I know they can have issues.
In the grand scheme of things how many rats get fed to snakes every year without issue? What's the percentage of those with issues? I'm guessing it's a very small fraction.
Y'all are focused on the wrong thing, IMHO.
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I'm going to let y'all run with it. I'll wait for the OP to post up an update.