Newbie habitat questions. Getting my 1st snake (BP)

New to the forum (and snakes), so treat me gently please. I'm about to take the plunge on buying a juvenile Royal Python. I've had some good talks on snake suitability, care, feeding etc with my chosen shop & been offered a complete viv set up & snake at (what I consider) a reasonable price.
My question is though....What are the best substrate & habitat, to give the most natural look & give the snake some interest/ places to hide etc.
Not too keen on the sawdust looking substrates in the shops, or the artificial plants.....So what can I use, without putting the snake at any risk of harm/ stress?

First of all, you CAN make a tank work (which is what I imagine the setup they offered is), but plastic tubs that latch closed with air holes drilled in actually do a much nicer job of keeping the humidity where it needs to be than any screen-top tank. Cheaper and easier to clean/move too. That's up to you though, some people prefer the look of tanks.

I use cypress mulch which you can usually find at most petstores with damp sphagnum moss put into a hide around shed time. Looks natural and keeps humidity well. Other natural looking substrates that work well are orchid bark (never personally seen that one) and cocofiber. I use cocofiber for my frogs, but I personally avoid it for snakes just because it can get kind of messy and dusty when it's not wet.

As for natural hides, maybe someone else can give you some ideas, but the 'natural' half-log hides aren't really secure enough for BPs because they're open on two ends. I actually use one of those plastic guinea-pig hides for mine and it gets the job done but doesn't look very natural.

You can try doing a planted viv, but you may want to start a thread specifically asking for tips on how to do a live-planted enclosure since the majority of people don't do that. Regardless, I think it's a good idea to have ground cover for the snake other than just the hides, so you could always get some cheap silk vines and use those until you decide how exactly you want to do plants. The more cover available, the more likely you are to actually see your snake out and about.

Since you've been getting pet store info, I'll just go ahead and mention two things that are commonly overlooked in pet store setups.

1. You want a digital thermometer and humidity gauge. Those little round ones are so far off the humidity gauges are useless and the thermometers can be downright dangerous for more sensitive animals. They're a tad more expensive, but you and your snake will be glad you got them.

2. You absolutely need a thermostat (not thermometer) to regulate your heatsource, especially if you're using a UTH. Those things can get up to 120 when they're working correctly, and hotter than that when something goes wrong with them. The thermostat keeps that from happening. Without a thermostat, you will eventually be looking at a burned snake and a vet bill.