And there we go....
In the end people against co-habbing and people practicing it with no problems won't ever agree, can't we just skip the whole middle part and just get to the end
I think the best somehow in between advice is: newby's should better house apart, because they might miss signs of stress from co-habbing and have to learn how healthy snakes behave, so they can see when they are stressed or ill. Only when you know you animals and they are established, you might try co-habbing, watching carefully whether any participant stops eating or shows other signs of stress.
I think the vast amount of people co-habbing without problems, does say something about the problems it gives, whether anti-co-habbers like that or not. I do feel better co-habbing 2 adults in a 36 x 24 inch viv then separate them and house them in 24 x 16 tubs or drawers, like I see a lot if people have large collections. Of course, if they are thriving, some just don't like being co-habbed, so they won't be.
I'm very curious if anyone has ever done any attempt to 'scientifically' test if snakes thrive better when housed alone, compared to being co-habbed. So, not gut-feeling or simple reasoning why they should be housed alone, but plain testing. I bet nobody has so far. Until that time, I just look at how things are working out the way I House them. Calling this animal abuse might be just an opinion but I know people that would say keeping snakes in cages is animal abuse any way you do that, so.... don't go that way please.