I'm not a huge fan of the half log. Mine hated em. I ended up with some tupperware like containers, from the dollar store. I just used a soldering iron to melt a nice hole in them (and then a little sanding). Then I kind of buried them in the aspen. It's worked pretty good.

Have you attemped a feed yet? One trick is to throw balled up newspaper in the tank. You don't want an open area. It makes them feel vulnerable. I used some inexpensive greenery to fill up space, but will be switching to a rack soon.