My eldest’s corn snake is a big boy, and has outgrown his favorite hide. We’ve been trying different things: he likes the large PVC tube section, but sticks out the ends, the large black plastic rectangle tub he decided was better as a bathroom than a hide, and the slabs of cork bark are fun to climb around, but not hide under. So I thought I would make him a basket. I purchased half inch polypropylene rope, which it is used for boating and is mold and mildew resistent, and sewed it together with bonded nylon thread.

Sewing a coil basket was easier than I feared. I chose a method where the needle is stuck through the top of the previous row, then wrapped around the current row. To make it better for snake habitation, I built in an entrance near the base.

The 50 feet of rope wasn’t quite enough to make an 11” diameter basket, so I added some red rope from my stash to the lid.

Now we’ll see how he likes it.