Do you use hides?

I was wondering if you use hides in the tubs on your rack? I use 41 qt tubs on my rack and have hides for all of my snakes. I rarely see them out of their hides except at night. I did some thinking after receiving Kevin McCurleys book in the mail. He does not have hides.

I know that snakes will find a comfortable temperature for them in the tub. Will a gravid female stay in a area that is too hot just because there is a hide there? I have VIP's book and it states if the temperature is too high during a certain period they will reabsorb.

So Hide or no Hide?

I use one hide for the big'uns, and two for the smaller guys. The big guys tote theirs around like a mobile home :) Couldn't help you with reabsording though, as I haven't had any eggs...yet.

I have two for each, baby and adult, except for one girl who's happy with one. I think once I start breeding I'm going to remove the hide from ovulating females. I have a homemade rack that isn't very secure, but will be ordering AP racks here shortly. I will still use hides though since they love them (:

Nope. I used to but I witnessed that a few of my colleagues were having equal success without hides when using paper as a substrate (which I also use paper). If they want to hide they get under the paper.

I use hides except during breeding. Once they start breeding I take all hides out of the female/breeding tubs. I let the males have hides when they are resting but the females don't get their hides back until they lay.

"I have VIP's book and it states if the temperature is too high during a certain period they will reabsorb."

This is part of the reason I don't let the females have hides. I don't want to much heat building up in the hide and ruining the clutch.

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Originally Posted by ChadOwens

I use hides except during breeding. Once they start breeding I take all hides out of the female/breeding tubs. I let the males have hides when they are resting but the females don't get their hides back until they lay.

"I have VIP's book and it states if the temperature is too high during a certain period they will reabsorb."

This is part of the reason I don't let the females have hides. I don't want to much heat building up in the hide and ruining the clutch.

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Thanks:) That is what I was thinking. I might just remove mine from all of my females that have locked up.

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Originally Posted by AaronP

Nope. I used to but I witnessed that a few of my colleagues were having equal success without hides when using paper as a substrate (which I also use paper). If they want to hide they get under the paper.

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I have witnessed mine under the paper even with the hide.

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Originally Posted by stratus_020202

I use one hide for the big'uns, and two for the smaller guys. The big guys tote theirs around like a mobile home :) Couldn't help you with reabsording though, as I haven't had any eggs...yet.

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Thanks:D Mine move theirs around a lot also.

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Originally Posted by swalters

I have two for each, baby and adult, except for one girl who's happy with one. I think once I start breeding I'm going to remove the hide from ovulating females. I have a homemade rack that isn't very secure, but will be ordering AP racks here shortly. I will still use hides though since they love them (:

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I will agree with you. Mine love the hides. I'm just wondering if its that bad boy who is no good for her:tears:

I use hides for some and not others...

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Originally Posted by demjor19

I use hides for some and not others...

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Is there a reason why you don't use hides for some of yours?

I only give hides to picky eaters and since I only have 1 picky eater right now, only 1 hide, lol.
If mine want to hide they go under the paper towel :)

I use hides on my little ones but once they outgrow it then I stop using it as a rack is pretty closed in. I would only give my adults a hide if they did not eat for me. So far, I have not had a problem with the adults not eating! It is really just a personal choice! Some use, some don't!

I only give the young bps hides. My breeders are in tubs that are almost 3 feet long with no hides, just paper bedding. I've had no issues with them eating/breeding. If they had a hide in there I would worry that the girls wouldn't thermoregulate like they need to. Not saying they won't, it would just be added stress for me that is easily remedied.

Another vote for hides except when breeding. I use packing paper as "substrate", and my guys tend to burrow under it and try to make their own hides if I don't provide any. So I figure, if it really makes 'em that happy, they can have a cardboard tube or a tupperware container to call their very own.

But not for breeding. Sometimes they find a way to lock in the hide, but mostly it seems to get in the way.

Some get hides, some don't. All my snakes start off with no hides, I see if they eat and how they act. after a few refusals or just seeming stressed, I will give them a hide or do what I need to do. After they eat a couple times I will pull the hide again, if they refuse after that I just leave it in there.

I also just recently had my jag carpet python (has a similar looking issue as the spider) which once she started breeding the wobble started showing worse and worse, so I gave her a hide and she calmed down a little bit, she never had a hide since I owned her before that.

so basically I observe my snakes and go from there.

I give all my animals hides for the most part. Even my geckos. They seem to use and enjoy them often and I don't mind cleaning the extra cage furniture.

No hides. Even my boas in 4x2 cages don't have hides. They go under the newspaper or papertowels if they hide. My bp rack is 3/4 enclosed so it probably does help them feel like there hiding all the time.

Hi,

we use hides/wetboxes. 2 in 1 :)
Most of the balls like them,... Even if they are not shedding they are inside.

I am not breeding at least this year anyway, I have 2 hides for my shy girl and one from my shy boy The others don't have any as far as that goes my big female will not fit in a normal hide she would need a wash basin and it won't fit in the tub too tall.

I use aspen shavings as substrate in my racks, and then the snakes can just burrow under it when they want to hide. I used to put actual hides inside my racks with the aspen substrate, but I found my snakes didn't really use them that much for hiding, but they did like to poop all over the edges of them, making me constantly have to clean them. So I stopped using them, and everyone seems perfectly happy now with aspen and no hides.

I use hides, but I also have one of the AP economy racks which is pretty open on the sides. If It were closed (solid walls) on 3 sides, I would probably not use hides for the adults as the tub essentially becomes the hide. The thing is just to make them feel secure. I had my female who just laid in the tub with no hide and just replaced her hide yesterday as I want her to eat and using the hide helps facilitate that

I give both of my ball pythons hides, although I've noticed my most recent pickup seems to not use them. S/he would rather curl up in the corner of the tub, behind the hide.... keeping an eye on that one.

I mostly use them for hatchlings and skittish BPs. The only two adults that have them are not being bred this season.

I do not use hides. I keep them in CB-70 Tubs with plenty of paper and crumpled up paper so the whole tube is a hide and they can get under the paper or hide behind a pile of paper. Got my first clutch this year so I'm pretty stoked.

Mike

I use hides in my tubs, except during the breeding season. I remove the hides from the breeding females tub.

I use hides in my baby racks. Adults do not have any hides. If I have a yearling that seems to be off feed, I may put a hide in with them. But normally, once they grow out of the baby rack, they do not have hides. All my adults are in 41 qt ARS caging racks.

My 15 qt shoebox tubs get the small black neodesha hides and my 32 qt tubs usually get the medium neodesha hides but my small hatchling tubs don't because no hide will fit in those.

My 2x2 boaphiles get hides but my 4x2 boaphiles do not because the boa and retics don't use them.

I phased them out over time... I give each snake a hide to begin with, but find eventually they all find `under the paper` then the hide just become one more thing that is perpetually jammed against the roof when I pull the tubs out, because the snake is in the hide but under the paper... or just is something to sit on top of and poop on. :)

bruce

Actually Kevin does use hides. I've been there and seen them.