Should Hides be accessible?

[teddy90]

so as the title says should the hides be accessible?
I pick up my new little baby on Tuesday.
I've made a bioactive set up with custom background and sides etc. I'm going to squeeze in another hide once he arrives just to see where hes using the space so i know if and where he would like one to go, but my 2 main hides are kinda in place. One is a cork round I've made into the enclosure the entrance is kinda hidden so he will be safe but if i really needed to i can move some things but then id have to reach inside to be able to get him. The other hide is part buried and has plants around, again if i really needed to i could move things around and manage to get it open but would take afew minutes then take longer to build it back.
Basically i wanted to make it look and feel natural for my boy and if he knows i cant just grab him it should make him feel safer?
Do people prefer to be able to just grab there snake when they want or am I doing a better thing making it hard. Obviously if there was no sign of him after a week and no noise at night i will check hes ok but otherwise i want him to live as natural as possible
I can post pictures if people want to see

[Bogertophis]

Off-hand, I'd say you're well-intentioned but really overthinking this. Assuming you bought your new snake from a snake-breeder, it has never seen the natural world before, & probably not 'hides' either, so no matter what your set-up looks like, it will be strange & scary.

The most important thing about hides is that one is in the warmer region of the enclosure (so your snake has the sense of security to digest his meals after feeding while having adequate warmth to do so), & that one (or more) is in the cooler area of the enclosure, because for best results all snakes need to be able to thermo-regulate* at will, as they do in nature.

*Fancy word for being able to choose from a variety of cooler or warmer temperatures to control their digestion & overall functions. When you seen snakes laying on sunny rocks & even roadways in the wild, they're doing so for the warmth needed, & had to come out of hiding to access the proper heat to digest &/or function.

Any keeper that keeps the enclosure rather bare so they can 'easily grab their snake' is not one you should be copying, though sadly they do exist. But quarantine is another matter...*****

New snakes will be scared of everything as it's all so unfamiliar, so allowing plenty time for them to learn their way around & learn they're safe before handling them, & ALSO, before offering food, is what I'd suggest. It's most likely your snake will hide by day & emerge at night, but they all have their own personality & previous experience, so it's a "wait & see" what your does.

Yes, we'd love for you to post pictures...that helps us to help you, when we can see your actual set-up.

*****It sounds like this is your first snake, & I have to say that this will likely be more complicated because you chose a "bio-active" set-up. I'm not personally a fan of bio-active so I cannot advise you much on that method, but I think most keepers have it set up & operational for a while first, before putting a new snake in. The thing is, you should always quarantine a new snakes in a simple minimal type set-up, in case they have problems...you want to find out as fast as possible.

IF your new snake has mites, they'll be all over your carefully managed bio-active home before you even know the snake has them...that's a recipe for disaster. Also, if your snake has nasty abnormal stools (oily, mucoid, really smelly, bloody, etc.) you need to know immediately that your snake has a health issue, & bio-active isn't your friend there either. The complex set-up will make it hard to find & examine the snake's excrement- whereas in quarantine, using white paper towels as substrate (recommended, btw), both mites & GI (gastro-intestinal) issues will show up much more easily. If there's any such problem, your nice bio set-up will need to be thrown away, after serious cleaning (disinfection) of the enclosure itself. See??? It can also get expensive- your nice cork round, for example, has infinite hiding places for mites (including their many eggs) & "germs"- you'll have to throw it out if your snake isn't healthy. Same goes for that nice craggy background I'm assuming you installed. A snake enclosure that cannot be cleaned & disinfected easily is a recipe for disaster, from where I sit, anyway. It's best not to start with bio-active, but it's your decision. If you were persuaded to do so by a pet store, please remember they're in the business of selling you things...& bio-active is great for their bottom line...but really complicates keeping any snake healthy.

[EL-Ziggy]

My enclosures are pretty basic. A couple of hides on the warm and cool sides, a shelf and a branch for perching, and a water bowl. I like being able to get the snakes out easily if I need to without rearranging the enclosure. What kind of snake are you getting? Please do share pictures.

[Bogertophis]

My enclosures are pretty basic. A couple of hides on the warm and cool sides, a shelf and a branch for perching, and a water bowl. I like being able to get the snakes out easily if I need to without rearranging the enclosure. What kind of snake are you getting? Please do share pictures.

And just to be clear, about my post above- I was picturing in my mind & referring to those that don't even offer hides for their snakes. I too, like to keep things pretty basic because cleaning up snake-poo is a reality. I'd never in a million years do "bio-active", & I have a hunch that it's often over-promised for effective maintenance. I do like to offer multiple hides, a good sized water bowl, climbing branches (or other 'furniture' for climbing & exploration, such as tubes, & also a humid-hide if needed) depending on the type of snake...just nothing with the complexity of live plants & all that stuff. My substrates vary depending on the kind of snake & their needs.

[Homebody]

I think privacy/security trumps accessibility. That said, you should be able to remove your snake from it's hide if you have to. Pics would help us advise you better.

[Bogertophis]

Many snakes like to take a dump where they feel very secure...that's often in their hide, so if an enclosure is set up in such a way that it's hard to remove the hides, that can result in an unhealthy snake from living in a dirty home, "bio-active" or not. I don't think the OP mentioned what kind of snake this is (thank you, El-Ziggy, for asking). I was assuming a ball python, & I understand that the larger bodied snakes will put an impossible strain on "bio-active", but maybe it's something smaller?