Alright, folks. I did go to the store today and buy two smallish hides because I was anticipating a reaction somewhat like this.

But I think I should argue that owning a pet is a relationship. If the owner isn't happy, then how can he care to keep the snake happy? I noted that after I'd removed the hide he did feed twice with no real problems, though I still had it on hand if he refused to eat. Since there seemed to be no poor reaction, then I didn't replace it.

Other information:

The tank is a medium-sized tank, about 2.5' long with an open mesh top. I use a UV fluorescent fixture on the left 2/3 and have a ceramic fixture with an infrared bulb in it on the right. The pet store people said the UV was necessary. Too late to return it. I run it on a timer, 10 hours of light, 14 of night.
Below the bulb is a heating pad that reaches from front to back of teh cage, about 10" wide. A glass thermometer shows the temperature under the light at 95~ degrees. The middle of the tank is about 75-80 depending on ambient temperature and the far side is a bit cooler than that, around 71.
I have to take the thermometer out. It's a metal sort that hangs over the lip of the cage and my BP likes climbing on it during escape attempts, resulting in more than a few falls. If he keeps falling off of it I'm afraid he'll hurt himself.
The cage substrate is about 1/2 to 1" of newspaper pellets and he has a large exo-terra water dish that I clean/change around once weekly and top off if it evaporates quickly.

No idea about the humidity but I got a hygrometer today and want to re-vamp the cage similar to the glass terrarium instructions pinned at the top. Need a piece of plexi-glas and some more accessories.