Hi all, I'm new on this forum and in this hobby

I know there are a lot of threads about the best substrates to use for ball pythons.
But my question is: is it really a necessity for ball pythons to live on some sort of substrate?

Maybe a bedding would mimick their natural habitat, but would the snakes be that uncomfortable on bare plastic (in a RUB, for example) or worse, would they
become sick (I don't know how a lack of substrate could ever cause disease)?

I tried looking for an answer on the web but I didn't find any info.
So I tried to think of some potential reasons why it could be bad husbandry :
1- Lets suppose that I put my bp in a RUB without substrate. IF I use a bowl that is easily tipped over, when that happens there is nothing to absorb the water, so the snake will get soaked (unless it has somewhere to go). Using a proper bowl would solve this problem though.
2- I guess some substrates help to keep humidity on a certain level, but if one has a tub in which just having a water bowl keeps the humidity fairly constant... then it should not be a problem either.

Can any of you think of other reasons why one shouldn't do this...
or does it sound totally ok to you to house a bp on just smooth plastic surface?
any experience?

Thanks!


btw I'm asking out of curiosity. I'm not actually that cheap not to provide some newspaper to my snakes!