It needs to be housed a minimum of one room away. I read that white paper towels should be used as substrate instead of mulch (aspen, cypress, repti-bark, etc.) as this will help you tell if your snake has mites more easily.You should wash your hands very thoroughly and, if possible, change your clothing after handling the new ball python before you handle your established ball pythons from your collection (mites could get on your clothes without you noticing and you could pass your healthy snakes Inclusion Body Disease if you dont wash your hands well enough). Don't offer a rodent to any of the snakes in your collection if you offered the same rodent to the ball python in quarantine. And of course you should probably avoid using the same tongs or thoroughly disinfect them first if you only have one pair. I hope that I have been helpful.