Quote Originally Posted by jwarriner
Ball Pythons need at least two hides (one on each side of the gradient), a water dish and a proper substrate. Anything else you ad is for you, not your snake.
I don't think that's exactly true? I agree that the thorns are potentially dangerous to the BP, not to mention that the live plants are likely to get destroyed by a heavy bodied snake rather quickly. The OP definitely needs to get a second hide in there. Meet the basic needs first. But I think some of the "decorations" that get added to tanks can have benefits for the snake as well as looking nice, so they aren't only for the humans.

There are lots of threads to be found around here about how adding crumpled up newspaper can help a snake feel more secure. It definitely seems to have helped my baby girl! Doesn't look very attractive though.

An alternative that I want to try that I think will help with the snake feeling secure as well as looking pretty is to add one of those artificial plant garland vine like things they sell at craft stores. I plan to basically loop it around the open spaces on the floor of the cage and I think she'll be able to slither in-between and under some of the leaves. Right at the moment I'm going with the "don't fix what isn't broken" theory until I get a larger number of successful feedings in a row, so I'm sticking with the crumpled newspaper for the time being.

Plus I've seen quite a few postings about how their snake seems to like to climb a little bit. My girl has a piece of grapevine that she climbs on and under. There is one particular place on it that she likes to perch like a tree python. It seems like it provides exercise and perhaps some mental stimulation.