Clutter/Toys?

[kgrah1]

I heard somewhere that snakes enjoy having clutter to hide in/play with/crawl over, just like mice or hamsters do. If you give a mouse a cardboard tube, it becomes a tunnel to hide in, a bed, fresh bedding to be chewed, all sorts of things. But I've also heard that clutter makes snakes very anxious. I have a number of cardboard tubes that I generally use for art stuff. Would dropping a tube in the tank be good for her, or would it scare her out of her wits? Or if not a tube in the tank, perhaps a short tube maze to crawl through to keep her occupied while the tank is being cleaned? I'd like to hear what you guys have to say.

[mikesmelly]

I personally have two hides, a hollow skull, a water bowl, a vine, and plants hung on the sides of my tank. I'm not sure how much snakes would enjoy cardboard tubes. I think they're more interested in having good hiding places, which all of the things in my tank have proven to be (she was under the water bowl one morning lol).

[DVirginiana]

Just make sure the tubes are big enough that she can't get stuck in them. They enjoy having plenty of things to hide in. My colubrids especially enjoy getting new cage decor and will actively explore it for several days.

[Atrox]

I have one side on the left, where the cool side is, one on the right in the warm side and one in the middle because why not? Along with this I have a wine that you stick onto the glass pane because he seems to like to climb and I've started to clutter the rest of the vivarium with artificial plants, rocks and branches.

[DennisM]

I use paper towel tubes as hides for all my appropriately sized snakes. One less thing to clean.

[Daigga]

Just make sure the tubes are big enough that she can't get stuck in them. They enjoy having plenty of things to hide in. My colubrids especially enjoy getting new cage decor and will actively explore it for several days.

This. I had a guinea pig once that startled me one day by having an extremely loud fit. I found her stuck inside her cardboard tube panicking because she couldn't get out. Clutter is usually a good thing with BPs, and with my smaller tubs I've taken to wadding up paper towels (what I use as substrate) to take up most of the negative space so they can hide under and around it. They'll wad it up or hide under it anyway, may as well give them some extra to work with.

[kgrah1]

I cut up three tubes so they're open enough to accommodate her and the mice she drags in from time to time, but they still cover her enough that she's calm. So far she's got a hide and a tunnel she dug on both the warm and cold sides, and now her three tubes. She hasn't stopped smelling everything. In fact, she even ate a mouse!

[M.P.C]

you can cut the paper towl tubes long ways with a razor and then getting stuck isnt a problem anymore