Hide or no Hide (or no brainer?)

[carlthuringer]

I'm curious if many of you use a hidebox, have some partial shade/hide, or use nothing in your BP enclosure.

After a few weeks, I took the simple cardboard-box hide I made out of the enclosure. My snake had spent the better part of the week inside of it, and many more hours besides. As I have a nice glass-wall enclosure, only one snake, and want to show him off a little it was considerably annoying that he didn't want to show his face at all!

I have a young snake, so I thought he had better get used to the movement of one or two people outside his cage. He's already acclimated fine to the new environment and fed recently before I removed the box, and after.

For the most part, he seems to do fine, so apart from a difficult shed and a recent refusal to eat, he's doing well, moving around and laying stretched out along a log. Need I worry about putting a hide in at this point?

[hoax]

BPs MUST HAVE A HIDE. It is very important that they have a hide. Most people have at least one full hide, the majority have two hides one on the cool end and one on the warm end. I have three one in the cool one in the warm and one in the middle. If you wanted a display pet you got the wrong pet. BP love to hide they want to be all snuggled up in a tiny tiny hole. I can assure you that the majority of people will not be happy to see that a BP has no hides. I was new to this and had a little half log hide and a bunch of other junk that just wasnt worth having. Pleas read the care sheet and follow it to a T. Now I know that there are people with tubs that only have one hide. but the majority of people have two or more hides.

Please don't take this as me being rude or yelling.It is just important to the mental health of the snake to be able to hide.

[kjhowland]

I have a boa. 90% of the time he lies visible, but occassionally he decides to use the hide. Let the snake make the choice. Leave a hide in there. When he wants to use it, he can. Better for the health of the critter

[rabernet]

So, you removed the hide for your pleasure, because you couldn't see him? What about HIS needs? He can't tell you what he needs, he has to depend on you to provide that for him.

Not only should he have one hide, he should have two - one on the warm side and one on the cool side of the enclosure.

Ball pythons do not lay out in the open in Africa. By nature they are very shy animals who spend the bulk of their days in termite mounds and rodent burrows. They desire to feel something touching them on all sides to feel safe and secure.

If you were wanting a display snake, a ball python was the wrong choice.

[Egapal]

I have a similar issue with my fish. I have two South American cichlids. I didn't realize how big they would get or how expensive their food was compared to gold fish food. So I started feeding them goldfish food. So far they are doing great though aside from seaming sluggish and maybe a bit bloated. I think I have the tank about perfect the only thing is that the filter and airator are a bit loud. I am thinking about turning them off so that its a bit quieter.

Seriously though, bad bad bad move. You answer your own question. You removed the hide and now you have a problem with your snake refusing to feed. Hmmm, if only there were some well known reasons why a BP will refuse to feed.

Another issue with BP is regurgitation. Your snake is not going to feed well unless it feels safe. In the wild if a snake does feed and later feels threatened they will regurgitate in order to lighten up so they can make a hasty escape.

Its been said many times on this forum. Its called animal husbandry for a reason. You are the husband in all this and as any husband will tell you its not all fun and games. Its a lot of hard work and very little pay out. The good news is that you learn to take great joy in the little things. I for one get a little nervous when my BP is out of her hide during the day. My first thought is "whats wrong". Please please put the hide back.

[snakecharmer3638]

Okay, I want you to think about it like this. Imagine the enclosure that your BP is in, as it's world and the hide, as it's home. You would not feel very secure if someone kicked you out of your home and forced you to live on the streets. Sure you would eat and sleep. But I bet money your physical and mental health would suffer terribly. I vote put the hides back. If you want to show off your BP, simply lift the hide and take a look or take him/her out.

[pythontricker]

ok, forget about anything told to you about not having a hide in the cage. These animals are reclusive. They spend most of the time in rodent burrows in central Africa. you want to essentially simulate those conditions for the comfort of the animal. if that doesn't happen it could feel out of its comfort zone and will be stressed. Picture it this way, you are in a big glass aquarium, and these HUGE things are always around you and looking at you, picking you up, etc... But you had no where to go or hide. You always felt uneasy because you never knew when these monsters would come and get you and there was no HOPE in getting away. You are always stressed.

[RobbinRN]

Wow! I can't possibly come up with a better analogy than those before me. So I'll just say....put the hide back.

Robbin

[MiniJ83]

"My snake absolutely LOVES his hide. Spends all day in it. It's his perfect little home! So...I threw it away."


A couple other questions about your setup, Carl.
What are you using as a heat source?
How are you controlling said heat?
What are your temps/humidity range?

[STORMS]

No brainer....BP's need at least 1 hide, but 2 is better - 1 for the warm side and 1 for the cool side.
PLEASE put the hide back in
BP's really need that feeling of security.