FR, a most interesting post!
Animals of diverse species sharing the same habitat shelter sort of reminds me of a group of humans in a bus stop shelter; in both human and animal cases they are together to further an end. With the humans it is to meet the bus. With the animals it is to share the shelter. That doesnt make them "bonded" but routine close proximity does possibly lead to greater tolerance. This is probably a weak analogy. Also, you pointed out that the wild animals seemed to choose individuals to touch, and not touch others. So more is going on with the animals than just using the only decent shelter around. An experiment would be to put out an assortment of suitable shelters and see if the animals would still choose to hang out together or not, if they had more options.

In captivity I try to put my reptiles in pairs and trios very early in life. They grow up together. I loaned out my adult male pyro to a friend this spring, and when I get him back will have to re-introduce him to his girls during brumation.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

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