While I do not breed mine yet, so I cannot comment on that side of things, but I have had them in black tubs for over a year now and I have noticed a great improvement with my picky eater and overall temperament of the others. They used to hang out in hides all day anyways, so I assume they think they are in a big one all day now. Every time I open a tub they are looking for the sunglasses and asking to go back to bed My tubs are actually Halloween clearance tubs so they are slightly translucent, but the snakes are doing very well in there and it only cost me 2$ a tub