The often understated importance of hide selection

Outside of temperature, Security is probably the most important factor to provide for your snake. Snakes that dont have it will stress, and just like with people, stress can cause serious negative effects on their health. They often wont eat. They'll be more susceptible to infections. So it's definitely important.

A lot of caresheets will give you just the checklist: Waterbowl, "Hide", Heat, humidity and Substrate. This approach is often for brevity or because people don't want to discourage creativity, but it makes the assumption that you would already know what types of hides are available, and how to select the best one that would work for your needs. Unfortunately, the one size fits all options available doesn't always work across all species.

So that's what this page is for.

First lets discuss hide size: Think of it this way: have you ever snuggled into a blanket and felt all cozy and safe? That sense of safety and security is what we are trying to provide for our snakes with a hide. Using the same example, if we took that same blanket and draped it over a canopy bed, technically yes, you'd still be under it, and the blanket still is there, but would the level of comfort and security provided be the same? of course not. Its the same thing with your snakes hide. If its too big, it just wont feel as cozy as if it were tight fitting.

Unfortunately most commercial hides are built for, yep you guessed it, the ball python- which is a much larger species even as hatchlings than what would be best suited for lamprophid or colubrid snakes. A good hide for your snake is one that would touch the body at several points, which this style of hide would do- for a ball python- but not for a hatchling house snake. Is it better than nothing? yes, but its a blanket draped over a canopy bed when we really want that wrapped up comfy blanket scenario mentioned above.

This is a ball python hide. Great for balls and similarly sized snakes, but wont work nearly as well for smaller snakes.

Ok so next lets talk about hide placement: Ideally we want two hides, one on each side of the enclosures thermal gradient. Here's why we want two. 
​

We know a great hide allows the snake to really wedge themselves in tight. This provides them with a sense of safety from predators and a place to digest their meals. Eating is a fairly vulnerable time for snakes. It makes them slower (i.e easier for a predator to catch) and requires a great deal of energy to do. They also need heat to digest their meals. That is why a tight fitting hide must be placed on the warm side of an enclosure. Security is so important to snakes that some may even chose their hides over their need to thermoregulate. So if only given the choice between being warm enough and being hidden enough to feel secure, some would rather be secure- even if that means they wont eat or even get sick. Yeah security is that important.

So the reason we want to have two is because we don't want them to have to make that choice. Having two allows them to choose between being warm and secure or being less warm but still secure. Something else we can do if we have two hides is to use one as a humid hide. Snakes love humid hides. They are a great tool to help with shedding and if you have two hides and one is humid, they now also have the option of a humidity gradient in addition to their thermal gradient. So which hide gets the humidity? The warm side. That's simply a matter of physics really. Warm air can hold considerably more water vapor than cool air. 

When you have a humid hide, the rest of the enclosure can be considerably drier and still provide for their humidity needs. This is important to note because a lot of the respiratory infections that occur in snakes are environmental.

Ill explain what commonly happens. When you're using a screen top cage you have practically no humidity, so what a lot of keepers do to raise the humidity is to considerably lower the ventilation, but now you have another problem... wet warm air that is *stale*- and mold loves that.  When you mix that combination of factors (especially with waste matter) it becomes difficult to avoid an R.I. Solution? leave the air fresh, but add a humid hide.

Now there is a gradient of humidity, so if the snake needs humidity they hang out in the humid hide, but they still have drier air they have access too should they want. Walah! two needs met, one solution: two hides! 

So ok, if the commercial ball python hides are too big what can I use? 

Anything that is safe and sanitary really. We use black tupperware type containers with a access hole cut in the side. There's a lot of different sizes of them and they are dishwasher safe. We fill one with damp peat moss (no pesticides or fertilizers) for the humid hide. Heres what one of ours for hatchlings looks like: 

and one of the adult ones:

​While they are not super pretty they are perfectly functional. 

This page is still under construction, be back soon!