Normally the nesting area is secured well before copulation. Most snakes go to their nesting areas in the fall. And are there or close in spring. They tend to use the same spot year after year. There is no discovery period.
In captivity, its EASY for you to support that.
Full cage nesting can be made to work. That you see some nesting and some pacing, is the snakes telling you, your conditions are marginal. If your snakes are digging down, nesting and coming up within a few days of their pre-egg laying shed. Your doing great. If a snake is crawling around pacing, etc. Its not accepting what you offered.
I once attended a talk about hogs, these guys in mich. filmed females nesting. They dug in, in open sunny sandy areas, laid, came up and hid the nests. That was so easy to duplicate. But in order to do so, you have to DO IT.
The term full cage nesting is a bit silly(sorry if that offends you) but the size of the cage may or may not be big enough, and that is THE PROBLEM. In my experience, most cages these days are too small for nests.

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