new behavior tied to season?

Question
QUESTION: Since spring has arrived, I have noticed a new behavior in my ball pythons. I have 2 in one tank and 1 in another. They are crawling under their carpeting. They've not done this before, and the temps in the tanks are within proper settings, so I am curious about this new behavior.
ANSWER: Hi Barb.  Yes.. you are correct about the change of behavior during this time of year.  My snakes do the same exact thing. They also are in what I call "mating mode" (Aka: looking for a mate)  In fact..one of my female kings always moves ALL her aspen shavings to one side of her cage. If I move them back she'll do it all over again until one side is completely bare.  All in all...nothing to worry about except a little touch of "spring fever"
Take care :-)

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: That is good to know, but it presents another question:  At what age to snakes mate?  And; Is the following question fact or myth...  If a male and female are reared together in the same habitat, they won't mate when older.

Answer
Hi Again. The best age for snakes to begin to mate is close to 2 years.  Regarding your second question...it is a bit of both fact and myth.  When you plan on breeding your pythons (or any snake for that matter) you first need to brumate (hibernate) them in winter in SEPERATE cages for 3-4 months.  Then after that you warm them up in SEPERATE cages.  After the female sheds for the first time since "waking up" you can introduce the male to her.   At this time she is giving off pheromes and the male is attracted to her.  If the snakes are reared together in the same habitat without seperation they are unlikely to breed.