They do like to hide and bury themselves. That said, mine is also fairly active, and climbs around. I have an RHP over his largest magnetic ledge - he likes to hang out on that as well. Nice, since that way he is out, and I can admire him. He also has a UTH on a VE t-stat, and another cool hide.

If I were going to do a bare bones tank set up, I'd use SaniChips, some branches for climbing, and two hides, one over a regulated UTH. Clips would be easier than those rocks for the top screen.