Too tired to look more (2:43 a.m. here!) but the book by John Coborn mentions communal hibernation of these guys... he also says that while they can tolerate handling better than some species that it is still a good practice to handle them as infrequently as possible. I usually only handle my guys when there is necessity to do so, such as moving them to clean, feed, weigh/measure or medicate. I'm perfectly happy to observe them safely in their homes.