Quote Originally Posted by elizard View Post
More specific: I'm looking for something that's not just decoration (naturalist like you said), but also something utility. My thoughts were to make something that I can take in and out (possibly in 2-3 pieces, such as left and right corner that spans toward the middle, for cleaning purposes) that would serve as at least one of her hides. I wanted something flexible to suit what type of enclosure I can easiest provide her given my life circumstances, so I'd like to include spots for plants (such as holes in the background that fit small plant pots). I will be using overhead heating as well as a heat mat at the side of her warm side hide, so I don't want it to span TOO high to make it easy for her to reach (the overhead heating will be fully caged off, but just in case lol). She a little explorer that loves to climb and burrow on occasion, so I want to provide her something more interesting to be in

Cork bark is a great idea! I have thought about that, but wasn't sure if I should pair it with something for a better structure. How do you usually attach the pieces together? (Not to the back of the enclosure) Do you reccomend any other materials to go with it? Also for cleaning, do you prefer to wash, steam, bake, etc... the wood?
Just cleaning of cork can be done with water (maybe with soap) and a brush (I keep old toothbrushes for this); there's no real disinfection needed to reuse materials for the same snake. When I reuse cork for another animal and need to eliminate pathogen risk, after I clean any filth off I soak the cork in a standard bleach water solution (one part regular Chlorox disinfecting bleach in 19 parts tap water) for a while -- official contact time is 10 minutes, but a couple hour soak won't hurt. The cork needs to be weighted down since it floats. Then I rinse with tap water and let air dry for a couple weeks.

I attach cork to cork with the same stainless bolts (more durable wood such as ghostwood can be screwed together, but screws strip out of cork). I haven't used any other wood types, since these two have been proven to hold up over time and be functional (I'm not sure that any ghostwood would be bulky/thick enough for a BP to use; I'm just explaining why screws don't work reliably for cork to cork connections).

When you design things, make sure to take into account the size and behavior of the snake. Even my adult male BP (males are smaller than females, on average) is large enough that I'd rule out any plants stuck in pots on a background -- he's bulky and strong enough that he'd destroy them (I don't have any plants in his enclosure, since I kill enough plants without his help ).

I'd also personally question whether that size enclosure is realistically large enough to be doing much aesthetically pleasing in and not just stealing space from the snake (for an adult; maybe you have upgrade plans at some point). The benefit of plants for a ball python are that they transpire water into the air, which helps moderate humidity and that's a good thing, but the range of plants that will survive the abuse for any time might be pretty limited. Personally, I'd use a pathos or similar and not get too fancy. Also, since plants require light (obviously), they may complicate enclosure design (screen tops let out humidity much more than the plants add it back; light fixtures inside enclosures can add electrical risks and add heat that may not be needed, etc).