Just few notes to BP Husbandry FAQs...

[anatess]

Hi Malpaso!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR VIV! Okay, so my husband and 2 kids are the "snake" people while I'm the "viv" girl. They do the picking of snakes and I do my HGTV-for-snakes on their viv. I love doing it. But, after months of messing with vivs I learned that it's a delicate balance between pretty and functional. I'm getting pretty good at it now. I just put together a 10-gallon on the spur of the moment yesterday when my husband decided to get a bp on the spot. I think it was a great success because after a few hours of cruising all over town, our new bp finally settled and all day today, I haven't seen hide nor hair of her (or rather, head nor tail. whatever) - well, except for the little bit showing through the hole in the hide. She moved once - from one hide in the cool spot to the other hide in the warm spot. And that was all I saw of her. But the biggest test is Sunday, feeding day. I'll find out then if my little set-up worked. I got pictures all over this forum, I'm just lazy to link to them... yeah, I'll have to remember to put it in my gallery or something.

Anyway, I completely understand how difficult it is to make a functional set-up and still make it look pretty. I'm thinking you might find this DIY hide perfect for your needs. You can shape and color it however you need to make it match the rest of your decor. And because it is very cheap to make, you can have as many made as you need with all different shapes and sizes to put some interest on your viv.
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=77863

Check it out and hope it helps!

I currently have a 55 gallon exo-terra viv which is designed to mimic a rainforest for my 2 year old 900gram pastel. She's a really finicky snake - prissy and easily stressed. I have a ceramic heat lamp over the viv to keep the ambient temperature stable which is sucking up the humidity. She hasn't eaten in 3 weeks, so, this weekend, I'm going to move her to a 20 gallon jam-packed with stuff to make her feel more secure, get rid of the ceramic heat lamp, and rely solely on the UTH. I found I can do this to a 20-gallon. I've learned ways to make a 20-gallon look really amazing for cheap. I'll let you know how it all works out for me.