Do you breeders keep hides in your tubs

Who keeps hides in their tubs during breeding season?

I find hides just get in the way of the magic.

So I don't use them.
I'm not a big time breeder and this is only my second season and have only 3 clutches under my belt but.
Yeah I had hides in last season for a couple months and the sire couldn't work around them :rolleyes:

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I only have 9 snakes and this is my first year breeding but my snakes do just fine without one since they can hide in the back of the tub

Not me.

I don't use hides.

So far, I've kept my hides in. They really don't get in the way of the magic unless the female wants them to and if she does, well, it wasn't really time for the magic.

One neat plus (for me) that I got to see by not removing Dahlia's hide, was to see her check out her male then make the decision to breed with him.

I only keep hides for my babies. When they outgrow the hide I remove it. I use small Reptile Basics hides they usually outgrow them at about 300g...

None of my adults have hides. The only time I use hides is for hatchlings. If a snake is a finicky eater, I may keep them with a hide until they reach 1,000 grams. After that, no hides.

No hides for the adults at all, the odd baby that's tough to get started may get one (1/200).

interesting to know. I guess I will have a few hides to remove by the sounds of it. They all seem content, but is this more for breeding reasons, or just the hides in the way?

their stress level isn't bad then I take it?

If my girls have a hide (which I base on how well they eat), they lose it during the actual pairing days and then get it back when the male goes back to his tub.

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Originally Posted by Andybill

I only keep hides for my babies. When they outgrow the hide I remove it. I use small Reptile Basics hides they usually outgrow them at about 300g...

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^^ This. I have a couple shy juvenile males that have hides, and some picky hatchlings get hides.. but the young males seem to prefer to sit in them like a bowl than go under them like a hide. Only one of our larger girls has a hide, but she also has fake plants packed into her tub, so at all times most of her body is touching or covered by plants. When we take them out she gets nervous about food.. with them in, she slams food. They are all kept in a room that is completely dark most of the time, so most don't have an issue with feeling insecure.

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Originally Posted by 4Ballz

interesting to know. I guess I will have a few hides to remove by the sounds of it. They all seem content, but is this more for breeding reasons, or just the hides in the way?

their stress level isn't bad then I take it?

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For me, it is one less thing to pull out and clean each week. Also, let's you do a quick check without having to lift a hide. If I had only a few snakes, I'd probably use them. But, once you get over 25 or more snakes, it is just easier and the snakes don't seem to mind as long as the conditions are correct. Keep in mind, my racks are ARS racks and the back of their tubs are pretty dark.

Not a big breeder but here's my experience so far. Perhaps its because I have racks but I don't have a single hide in with my ball pythons. Everything working great around here and everyone but gravid females eating. :D A few of them hide under the paper but the majority lounge around.

Regards,

B