I added a few more dollar store plants to give it a lush look and make the snakes feel safe. I made sure I left room on the left (cool end) for a shallow water dish and enough clear space on the right (basking end) so that plastic plants won't get heated. The fern provides a way to block light from the basking area to provide shade for the other end.


I opted for using real snakes to inhabit this setup since real snakes are much more interesting than fake ones. I could sit for hours looking at this setup and watching the snakes go about their business.

More details about lighting and heating, and footage of the snakes enjoying their completed setup are in this video:


That tank is one part of this stacked setup. I also did a bigger version of this in a 55 gallon long, but I added a large climbing branch and cardboard tubes because the snakes in that tank are very big and they love to hide in the tubes. As you can see, a smaller version in a 10 gallon was also done.