I understand and agree with you all, it's probably risky to house them together for health/sickness reasons....
having said that... I see no cuddling, both HAVE eaten before the temps dropped for winter. A lot of my snakes stopped eating for winter, not just them. Even my turtles and my king who is an amazing eater has taken a break from eating because of the drop in the atmospheric pressure due to the winter season. The temp at the very bottom of the glass is maybe 110 degrees, but at the top of the 3/4 inch of substrate its maybe 100 degrees. Neither of them dig, or fight, try to escape the tank or even bother with eachother at all... and when they do socialize, there isn't any "cuddling" or hissing or anything negative... they rub against eachother in passing sometimes, or mind their own.
My twin hybrids who are male and female, are housed together too. There has never been a problem with them for over a year and a half. My venomous-breed breeder friend has a mating pair of Black Mambas housed in one tank too. Yes, they are a breeding pair and that may make a difference, but he tells me stories of how they share the food they are given. One is a more gentle eater, and the other is more aggressive of an eater, but both eat the same amount of feeders. And never ever fight over the food.
I have kept a very close eye on the BPs since I've gotten Benny. I have a dupilcated setup in the same tank. If one towel tube is above the heater another is placed next to it on top of the heater too, to prevent fights for territory. Same goes with the cool side.. if there is one tube on the cool side, I put another tube on the cool side too. There are artifical plants and driftwood and a basking rock to break up the space and give plenty of places to go for them. As far as getting sick goes... from what I understand it's actually somewhat difficult for a captive snake that's been healthy it's whole life to spontaniously get sick... I've never heard of anything that disproves what you all have said, but I've also done enough research to know how to prevent any of my herps from getting sick. BUT, the risk is still there, so I of course will keep a very keen eye to any signs of health changes.
I know Monty is female and Benny is male, I had them checked by a professional BP breeder who gave me the go-ahead to house them together. I trust his word because he has helped me out with my herps in the past. He's never heard of cannibalism between BP's, but he said it wasn't impossible. He even told me, and even another BP breeder that I consulted, that housing 2 BP's that are the same size is perfectly fine. Not to argue or say who's right and who's wrong... but.... BP babies in petstores are housed together, fed seperately, and shed fine. I have asked my local petstore if I was ok with my current setup.. they said I should be fine as well.
I feed Monty and Benny out of the main tank in seperate tubberware containers that are dark colored so they cant even see eachother. They have both eaten about 7 times and have had full sheds. Like I had said, they are not losing weight... they are in brumation because of the winter months.
When they did eat before the winter came, they ate with no hessitation and kept the food down. I honestly doubt there are any problems with them or that any will occur.
The only thing I'm not thrilled about is the one large water dish... I want to get 2 smaller ones so they can have their own drinking bowls and have the one soaking bowl. After I run out of aspen I am getting ground coconut fibers, it's just easier to clean.
I appreciate all your concern, but I don't see anything to raise concern about. As many as you well-educated people who said that my setup is risky, I've had just as many well-educated people say that my setup is fine. If not many people, more, say that it's fine. I am not sure at this point who is right and who is wrong... I just hope that everything pans out, and that nothing horrible happens.
I'm sorry that this is lengthy, and sorry if I sound like a smart @ss lol. I just wanted to showcase my points and thoughts as well.