Nice post and I agree with what you said, separate is always best and preferred for the health of the snakes, but it may not be what the snakes prefer on the other hand..?

I have been interested in this topic where people contend that Ball Pythons prefer to live alone, so I decided to do a little experiment. I have a glass display aquarium in my living room where I rotate different Balls in and out every few months or whenever.

I took three sub-adult females all about 500 grams and I put two good sized hides in the cage. I then watched which hide(s) the snakes would prefer to hole up inside. Almost exclusively the snakes would stay in the same hide all together. For instance, I would put in one hide on the warm end and put in one snake and let it go into the hide, then I would put the other hide right next to the first hide and I would put the other two snakes directly into this second hide and let them settle in. Before long, the lone snake would move in with the others. No matter how I moved the hides around, or however many setup variations I tried; hot end, cold end, hides next to each other, or spaced further apart, it did not matter, they would almost without fail end up together in the same hide within a day or so.

After watching these snakes in this small experiment, I really have to say I believe they prefer to have a hide mate. This may not be what is safest and best for them however?

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