I saw these exhibits with my own eyes today and I still have mixed feelings. I saw several reptiles utilizing them, and honestly they do create an oddly appealing aesthetic. The enclosures are also slightly larger IRL than they appear here, and are fine for some of the smaller snakes and lizards. That being said, I still contend that some of the reptiles would be better off with more space, and I wish there were more objects for them to climb around on.
@Chlidonias I'll post some photos, but I mean that I saw lizards chilling in glass tubes and snakes coiled up in bowls - the point being that, as long as the reptiles seem to like them and use them, I have a hard time arguing that they shouldn't be there.
@Coelacanth18 - I'm not going to argue for or against (I don't personally like how they look, but I don't know whether it affects the reptiles themselves), however saying that the reptiles seem to like and use them when there seems to be little else in the tanks for them to "utilize" is a bit circular.
@Chlidonias Perhaps the meaning of my statement was ambiguous. I don't know if they would choose a more naturalistic item to rest or hide in if they had a choice. My point was simply that they aren't avoiding them or seem uncomfortable with them, and they appear to be treating them the same way they would a pile of rocks or a sand burrow, so I suspect that there is little to no issue with them beyond aesthetic preference.
I'm also not really sure why the word "utilize" needs to be in quotes... I think it's a pretty self-explanatory word. They can either use an object or ignore it.
Additionally: to clarify, when I said "I wish there were more objects for them to climb around on", I meant tall/long objects like tree branches that would allow them to take advantage of the vertical space.
