>Well, that is certainly a personal choice that you are more than welcome
>to make for your ferrets and your household.  Others do not find it
>abhorrent.  Snake owners must feed their pets live food.  And my ferrets
>enjoy the occasional mouse.
 
That is absolutely incorrect.  It is far too dangerous to the reptile for
most reptile keepers to make live prey part of their regular diet.  Far
too often, a snake that wasn't hungry or on the ball for eating ends up
biten, missing an eye or even killed by the live prey left in with it.
Most reptile keepers I know feed their animals thawed mice and rats (or
rabbits for Mr. Python).  It's more convienient and it's safer for the
snakes, and kinder to the prey, to give it to them dead and 'tempt' the
snakes into eating it.  I mean, you don't see the Crocodile Hunter giving
his crocs live chickens, he tempts them into a food strike.  In the same
way, long tongs are usually used to tempt a snake into eating their food.
It's a common misconception, but frankly, most snake owners are just
about as eager to see the 'circle of life' in all it's bloody glory as
ferret owners are, and are quite happy to have their primary food source
pre-killed if their animals will eat it.  Exceptions are usually with
fussy animals who are motivated by the heat or particular movements of
live prey in such a way that they won't take to the dead, but this seems
to be more common with wild caught than captive raised snakes, and snake
owners who, through habit, are dogmatically convinced that live prey is
better than dead.
[Posted in FML issue 4214]