So I posted about the little fella I bought for my son in general and need to get his new home going. I have read and read and have a couple questions I would like to get cleared up before I waste time, money, and stress on the new BP. I want to try my hand at making his hides, my mom has clay and a kiln and saw some DIY hides made from different clay. I plan to use a food safe glaze so if it is safe for us to eat or drink from it should be safe for him to sleep in. I am more worried that they will be hand built and very similar but not identical which I have seen suggested. Would I be better off buying some that are the same or would small differences be ok?

My second question I may be over thinking. I have gone through the glass tank setup and read all 19 pages 2 or 3 times now. I am thinking of buying him a shelf from Home Depot or Lowes so he cam have some storage for some of his toys to go along with the tank stand. I understand that if it has a solid base to raise the tank to allow some airflow under it, but if it was a wire type shelf would it be too open and cause the UTH to have to work harder to maintain temp due to the glass dissipating the heat through excess air flow?