I would question the idea that the stereotypical naturalistic setup would have an impact on a snake's health, longevity, etc, simply because of aesthetics.



I guess that when someone refers to naturalistic, they mean

- natural looking perches are provided;

- natural looking hides are provided;

- plants (usually fake) are provided;

- natural substrate is provided; and sometimes

- running water is provided



These things, in my opinion, have a positive impact on the snake because of the purpose they serve. But, the snake will use the perches whether they are pvc piping, or real branches... The snake will use a hide whether it's a hollowed out log, or a cardboard box... Fake plants provide further protection, in the same way that extra hideboxes can, or a piece of mesh... Natural substrates are far too hard to effectively keep clean imo, yet, I fail to see what object they serve, other than creating a 'natural' look for the owner... Some people will suggest that snakes will drink more if the water is moving. All Australian species will readily search out still water, but I'm not sure with foreign species. I would imagine, though, that running water is cleaner (provided the devices used to run the water are regularly cleaned).



I keep my vens with nothing but a waterbowl, and three pieces of newspaper. Australian Elapids have a very high metabolic rate, and also show some evidence of what I loosely refer to as marking their territory via defecation. This makes keeping a natural enclosure a taxing task. Natural enclosures for hots create excess danger, without any benefit to the snake... only to the owner. At the same time, though, if a person creates a 'natural' looking environment, and commits the time to keeping it clean, then I don't see excess risk as a problem (at the end of the day, each individual will sum up the risks involved and make his or her own judgement).



Cheers,

Aaron.
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Happy Herping

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