I think the key phrase throughout your entire post was "experienced keepers." When someone brand new to reptile keeping comes here and asks if it's ok to keep two ball pythons together, the better part of wisdom is to suggest that they separate them because they simply don't have the experience needed to avoid tragic feeding errors or notice when one snake is excessively stressed by a cage mate or to prevent unexpected breeding.
I am of the belief, however, that there are very few hard-and-fast rules regarding the keeping of these animals. Each species has a basic set of environmental parameters that should be met...and each has special attributes that should be known and considered (ie: not a good idea to house a kingsnake with a roomie.). When a keeper is knowledgeable and experienced and truly cares about the well being of the animals...then whatever methods he chooses to meet those parameters is fine. But those three aspects of the keeper are critical when using methods beyond the basic caresheet level.
They must be knowledgeable.....fully aware of the species' exact environmental needs as well as aware of specific behaviors of each species they keep.
They must be experienced.......and able to recognize a stressed animal...to see when snakes are "out of feeding mode." They have to be able to read the body language of all their animals, as subtle as body language is on a snake.
And they must care.....the well being of the animals must come above and beyond the keeper's own convenience or pride in doing things their own way.
I appreciate your post...I think we need to see "out of the box" thinking like this a little more often and be a little more accepting of how others choose to do things. But we also have to be careful not to try and shove newbies out of the box before they're ready to go.
Reply With Quote