I agree for all of the reasons above. Something else to think about: one could imagine that a wild rodent would react to a snake differently than a domestic one; say, defensively? If that's the case, I would be much more concerned that a live wild mouse would injur my snake than I would a live domestic mouse. I'm by no means an expert, but a lot of fears tend to be learned. Corner a mouse that has learned to fear of snakes, and you've got one pissed off mouse. Just food for thought (no pun intended ).