The snake is my son's. The tank is in my living room so I can't use newspaper or paper towels. My only option is aspen. My concern with aspen was that the UTH would be too hot since I don't have a thermostat. The reptile carpet reduces the heat and I wash it in a bucket with disinfectant every other week. Also, it's easier to clean out the tank with the carpet than with aspen.
That water bowl is smaller than the one I used with my previous BP, many years ago. That snake loved to sit, fully immersed, in the water bowl. I will put a smaller bowl in there.
The back of the tank is covered with a background picture. I'll get the same for the sides. And I will get some more plastic plants to fill in the open areas.
The screen top has a red light on the hot side and a piece of cardboard covering the other half. I don't understand the foil or plastic covering the screen. What about air flow?
The two log hides are used alot. The other side of the tank (cool side) has a ceramic tree with plastic top; you can see it next to the water bowl in the last photo. The base is hollow and the snake spends lots of time in there. Do they really need to be identical?
A lot has changed since I had BP's 20+ years ago.
Thanks for the advice.
JohnNJ