Is a substrate really necessary?

[Pythonfriend]

human analogy:

is toilet paper really necessary? no.

does it suck to not have toilet paper? yes. heck, in emergecy situations most people would rather use their own socks and flush them instead of doing nothing.

potential health issues from sitting in feces aside, i would not want to handle a BP and would not like the smell of it if it just spent hours in its own feces.