I remember talking to Tim Bailey when we were in Birmingham. He said he also has a hard time feeding off such cute babies - he tries not to really look at them when he's feeding. He sort of looks to the side, grabs a rat, drops it in and moves on.

I love my breeder rats, so much so that when I had two retired females, I made sure that they went to a good pet home for their retirement. I asked for pictures of the enclosure and asked basic rat care questions to screen potential adoptors.

I have one retired female that I can't adopt out - I adore her too much and she'll live out her retirement here.

But yes, you can love rats as pets and also respect them as feeders that allow you to enjoy your snake hobby as well.