hhmmm its possible it is agression although they did have their tails all curled together the way i've seen in pictures of mating snakes and my husband was fairly certain he saw the genitals of the male.
Just as word of defense in my direction i do know a great deal about the running debate in regards to housing snakes together. and although each individual snake owner feels very strongly one way or the other there is no difinative right or wrong because every situation is different. although i respect your opinion DaemoNox, i have valid reasons for the way i do things. I have had corns for a number of years and have done extensive research. at this point separating them may be helpful however, just because they are together in general doesn't mean there is something terribly wrong with the way things are.
i re-read my first post and, i admit the wording was not very cohesive and i sounded quite a bit like a newbie so i will try and explain what i was saying a little better. first of all, i have tendonitis quite badly in both of my wrists which makes typing very painful so i generally do as little of it as possible. i suppose this makes my posts a little unclear so i will try to elaborate a little more

i am not PLANNING on mating them immediately but if it happens that they do mate i am prepared to incubate and hatch a clutch. i was surprised at their behavior because you're generally supposed to hybernate them first.
i just recently got married and moved so my snakes have had a change of house, owner (she didn't like my husband AT ALL although she's warming up to him now) a change of substrate (i couldn't find what i've always used here) and because winter is quickly coming upon us and all we have for heat for the moment is a portable heater so it has been difficult to maintain a stable temperature. all of these changes, especially the temp, as bitsy suggested, could have confused one but not the other i suppose which would explain the lack of interest in the male. i was curious about the eggs being deformed because i didn't know if, because they hadn't hibernated, the chemical compositions would not be right. what i was really wondering is whether anyone else had seen the female initiate mating as opposed to the male.
at this stage i would like to separate them for a while however to do this you have to be prepared with an entirely different area for an adult snake. when i leave the area for long i put one of then in a cardboard container in the cage. i realize that this is not a permanent solution but it will have to do until i can arange something else. this is what i was refering to when i said things were under contol.
thank you for your concern and advice. if you have any other suggestions i would be happy to hear them.