1. To answer your original question, no as long as your snake is eating and seems ok then no hide is needed. I still give some of my more nervous ones hides bc i believe it helps them.
2. All the racks on reptile basics website include wired heat, iris tubs, and shipping in the price you see. And if you pick it up at an expo Rich will usually throw you a discount bc it saves him in shipping money on his end.
EDIT: i just realized you were talking about RBI hides not racks. My bad. Im gunna leave what i wrote though bc it could benefit someone else![]()