Talk shop. Exchange ideas. Get a friendly conversation about husbandry going, and then pop in an innocent question - i.e. "Hey...can you give me some pointers on using the tupperware water dish w/o it getting knocked over? Are you having a lot of success with this?" or "I'm looking to make my setups more efficient...since ball pythons need heat at night, too, what are your thoughts on an under tank heater after the day bulb is turned out?"

Depending on how touchy your friend may or may not be, this approach can work pretty well to get a body thinking about his or her setups.

K