I more of said big breeder to single out many who are more in it for the profit or the “next big thing” kinda combos. Next time I will say “for profit breeders”. Hobby breeders are less likely to be against not incubating all of the eggs if it means the well being of the snakes is taken into consideration. Not many people have king cobras and monitors (or know anyone that does), or king snakes big enough to eat baby retics, so it is only “ethical” (or more excusable) to kill them if that is the case. I am sure there are people that don’t have these prerequisites that do this and that is when it becomes cruel and inhumane. At that point it is more like you are running a chicken farm, instead of breeding animals you are supposed to care about and care for as pets. Better to prevent unnecessary deaths when you are able in my opinion.
Couldn’t agree more. We draw really arbitrary boundaries about what is and isn’t acceptable as a feeder.
My wife bred and sold socialized pet rats when we lived in the SF bay area. A Berkeley student that got a rat from her taught it to perform written commands on index cards. I can’t even teach snakes I’ve had for almost a decade to stop biting me lol. What set of factors made a rodent acceptable as food while a reptile is not?
I know you meant this as a mostly rhetorical question but I am going it answer it.
I honestly believe that the hobby/industry as a whole suffers from a “least possible effort” mentality and it is pervasive:
We buy a $500 snake (after bargain hunting to get it as cheaply as possible) and then we skimp on the housing and put it in the cheapest tank/tub setup we can find
We mass breed species that a well-trained monkey could probably and ignore any species that might pose even the slightest challenge
We (over)feed rodents because they are just the default feeder that is widely and easily available while giving no consideration to the potential negative impact that rodent-only diets present to some of our animals
It takes effort to vary diets. It takes effort to maintain smaller collections of well-caged animals. It takes effort work with something that everyone and their brother does not have.
Seriously. Lori Torrini 
Interesting topic of conversation, something myself have wondered as with a few thousand retics and burmese pythons being bred, there’s surely no way they can all sell, especially as many people don’t have space large enough to accommodate a minimum 10ft long enclosure.