Randy,
Actually I typically use paper towels (preferred) or newspaper as a substrate for my baby bloods & then move them to cypress mulch when they grow up a bit. What you see in some of those pictures is actually A-grade long fiber Chilean sphagnum moss, which is soooo soft & insanely cushy & unlike the "standard" grade of sphagnum you typically find. Whenever I have a particularly delicate baby - i.e. a very shy or non-feeder, I give them a very thick substrate of this moss so they can burrow down in it & hide at all times if they so desire. It seems to help them feel more secure and has made it easier for me to turn snakes like this back "on" in the past. I also use this moss for all of my nest boxes - seriously if you were a snake, you'd WANT to lay eggs in this stuff! - and was setting up nests on the day I decided to take photos of some of these snakes, so I grabbed some to use as a backdrop.
K