ideas for 20-long decorations

I'm curious as to what, if any, additions to my 20-long would be acceptable or preferable to spruce it up. Does anyone use plastic vines along the edges? What about things to climb/slither over? My snake does like to be somewhat active several times a night and I'd like to make it a good place for him to enjoy his wandering.

Here's how I have my 20 long set up. Both sides are mirror images of each other so my girl won't prefer one to the other. I have a plastic tropical plant in each corner with a small imitation rock hide in front of each plant. I placed a piece of drift wood in the center for climbing and the water dish in the center as well.

The plants have large leaves and my girl loves to lay under them. She feels like shes hidden because the leaves are nice and big. Sometimes she even climbs on them as high as she can get. She loves having the choice of hiding under her plants or in her hides. She even basks on top of the hides sometimes because the leaves over head keeps her feeling hidden.

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http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...73a0324974.jpg

Sorry, pics aren't that great. I had to use the flash because it's dark in there. It looks nicer in person :)

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Large fake plants is the way to go. That way, it fills up the tank and gives your snakes a place to hide.http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...df44100450.jpg

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Here is one of my 20 long tanks http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...0988963b88.jpg

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Here are some other tanks as well

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...c50a36380e.jpg
*sorry about the background it was taking during our last move

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...53246209dc.jpg

Edit: same bottom pic just a cropped one lol

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I like to wrap 2-3 sides of tanks in aquarium backgrounds - if you look, you can find ones that are pictures rocks and/or weeds, and not obviously "underwater" pictures. It really reduces the visual clutter of seeing cables, etc. through the tank, and helps the occupants feel more secure, and IMO looks nicer than plain paper.

It's not so much a decoration, but I cut a piece out of a moss mat and rolled it up into a tube (it curls around itself anyway) and it acts like an additional hide. When the humidity gets low, I take it out and dampen it, then put it back, sort of like you would do with real moss. It seems to work well for both functions, in addition to adding more clutter.

You guys are all awesome! Thank you so much for the inspiration and the pics. In a week or so when I do my first full clean out I intend to replace the aspen floor with Forest Floor, get a moss ball type item for humidity and definitely some driftwood. I'm also going to put a smaller water bowl in.

With respect to the plastic plants, how well do they do with the overhead red 75w heating lights. No melting issues are there?

I think if your plastic plant can get hot enough to melt, your lamp is too close to anywhere your snake could go. Anything got enough to melt plastic is not somewhere you'd stick your hand; if it's too hot for your hand, it's too hot for the snake. If you're worried, hold your hand up to the lamp at the distance of the plant for a few minutes. If that doesn't hurt, the plastic plant is not going to melt.

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Originally Posted by jack jones

You guys are all awesome! Thank you so much for the inspiration and the pics. In a week or so when I do my first full clean out I intend to replace the aspen floor with Forest Floor, get a moss ball type item for humidity and definitely some driftwood. I'm also going to put a smaller water bowl in.

With respect to the plastic plants, how well do they do with the overhead red 75w heating lights. No melting issues are there?

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I've never had a problem with the 75w heat lamps melting the plastic plants so you should be just fine :)

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I tried regular plastic plants (either zoo med or exoterra - I can't remember which) and while they did not melt, they did give off a 'warm plastic' smell. I don't know if this would harm or irritate a snake, but I figured that if it was that strong to me, it must be more intense to a snake. I ended up going with the 'national geographic' brand silk plants. They have no smell at all. Just make sure you rinse them thoroughly in HOT water - they will bleed dye when you first get them wet, and if they are the kind with metal stems, check to make sure none of the metal tips are exposed.

If you choose to get silk flowers from a craft store, just make sure that they are not held together in such a way that the snake could get stuck and that they don't have glitter or artificial scent either. Some of the long strands of fake ivy for instance are held together in plastic chains and depending on size, your snake could get stuck through one of the loops.

I paint the back and sides with black paint on the outside of tank, it looks nice and dies make my snakes feel more secure. .

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