Most reptiles and amphibians do better in a captive environment if given a place to hide or burrow.

Thankfully there are lots of commercial hides and hide boxes available in all different sizes, shapes, and formats. From simple plastic hides, to elaborate logs and caves, these commercial hides work great if you only have a few animals. If you're dealing with a large number of animals, however, they can sometimes be problematic. Aside from being expensive to buy or replace, they can be difficult to clean, they may not fit the cage or the animal well, or they may not do all the things you need them to do.

I needed a hide box that would work for my medium-sized colubrid snakes. And I needed one hundred of them, so they had to be inexpensive, replaceable, easily cleaned, and, as a special requirement, they needed to "hold" a replaceable water dish, in this case a 16-oounce round deli container. Although I found several that met most of my needs, none of the commercial ones met them all. So I made my own.

Using a few tools, including a cordless drill and two hole saw bits, and cheap black spray paint, I re-purposed a stack of used plastic containers into the (almost) perfect hide box for my needs.

Starting with the plastic containers, once yearling cages, I used a 2-inch hole saw to cut out a side entrance at one end of the container. On the top of the container, at the other end, I used a 4-1/2 inch hole saw to cut a hole in the top of the box. These were hole saw bits that I already had, and if I had to purchase a new one for this project I would use a 4-3/8 so that the deli cup would fit tight in the hole. With the 4-1/2 inch bit the tolerance is too close for a tight fit, but my hides prevent the bowls from being tipped over, and that was the goal. I also found that the hole saw bit's teeth would often grab the plastic as it broke through and "fling" the box around. Running the drill in reverse to do the cutting once the initial pilot hole was drilled prevented this. It took longer, but created less dust and a cleaner hole.

With my boxes cut, I took some $1 flat black spray paint and gave the boxes single ruddy coat of paint. It doesn't need to be a solid perfect coat, just enough to obscure the light filtering through. Once dried, the hide boxes were placed in the cages, water bowls filled, and my kingsnakes all had new homes.