Hides in racks?

Hello all,

I am just trying to decide whether or not I should be using hides in my racks. I have found a couple of threads on here that seem to basically say that if the animal uses it then leave it in and if not remove it.

For the most part my animals are in the hides all day long, I dont think I have an animal that does not use their hide. That being said they have always had hides.

The other threads make it seem like an animal preference, is this truly the case?

I guess I am most concerned about the animals anxiety, i dont want them to stop eating, become overly aggressive, etc.

Does the opacity of the drawer have any effect on this question? How about size of the drawer vs. size of the animal (I assume there is)?

Not sure what information would be necessary to provide for the best answer to this question, if there are any other considerations please let me know and I can provide additional information.

Thanks in advance!

Most people will put a hide in if their snakes are fussy eaters. I use hides in my tubs though and it really is your preference and what you think is better for your snake(s). I would assume the more opaque the tub, the better. If you have clear tubs then you'll probably want a hide.

I can say that I do not have a single hide in with any of my snakes right now. If they are in racks then they are essentially in a big hide. The only time I use hides is when I have a young snake that is being a really really picky eater.

Some of my snakes have hides, some don't. Depends on the snake and how comfortable they are with our without one.

Provide hides (or at least one) see if the animal uses it and if it doesn't remove it.

Pretty much what everyone else said.
Some snakes use them, some are ok without one. I always provide one when I get a new baby. But all of my snakes over 400+ grams don't have one.

i use newspaper substrate, some of my snakes crawl under the sheets whenever they feel snuggly.........

Depends on how big the snake is in relation to the tub im using. I have some babies/juvis in adult sized tubs, all of them have multiple hides. All my bigger snakes that have grown into their tub size dont have them.

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If the snake is on non-paper substrate (like reptibark) I do provide at least one hide. If they're on newspaper no, because they hide under the paper as a hide anyways.

Yeah, my big snakes end up getting themselves wedged between the hides and the tubs, and end up with bent scales, so I don't use hides with my adults. But my two juveniles have two hides each, and they switch between them all day for temperature management. I felt bad that my adults don't have hides, but they don't seem stressed, and they sleep all day. Experiment, and do what's best for your individual snakes.