I have learnt over time, and in painful ways, not to hold on to any information too tightly for it can change on you while you were looking somewhere else. That being said, I would like your input on hide requirements for Ball Pythons.

From what I have read online and learnt from experienced breeders and keepers, these are very shy secretive creatures that live in rodent burrows. Therefore, by standards established by experience and observations, they require a minimum of two hides in their enclosure to feel secure.

If this is supposed to be the standard practice when keeping them, why is it that some people do not provide them with even a single one when housing them in plastic? I know that Mark & Jayne don't provide hides for their snakes because I read this on their website. Is this not bad practice?

I know that plastics are not as transparent as glass, and hence one could argue that a ball python does not require a hide in a rubbermaid or a sterilite. However, the fact is that the snakes can still see you and react to your movements from within the enclosure and therefore is capable of being "stressed" out.

Sometimes the enclosure is a really large plastic container that is located in a part of the house or room that gets a lot of traffic. How is this any better than a glass tank with no hides. I have seen the argument that plastics provide somewhat of a security barrier becuase of its opacity and hence one does not need any hides. I am not sure if I agree with this. Why not go all the way and make it fully secure by providing a hide or two? I have yet to see a bp refuse a properly set up hide!

Yet the fact remains that some breeders and keepers don't provide their snakes with one. This only leads me to ponder if they know something more about bp behavior than the rest of the community. Any and all comments welcome.

P.S I guess this was buggin me lately and I had to get it off my chest.