Note: If any of the moderators think that I'm not correct here, please remove this post immediately. It has worked well for me over the last year with both of my snakes.
Step one: Go to your local garden center and buy pure Cypress mulch. A very large bag (25-30 lbs) cost me $3.43 today.
Step two: Place handfuls of mulch onto a cookie sheet, removing large chunks. Pick out anything that you wouldn't want to crawl around in. Also pick out anything with any white on it (mold)
Step three: Bake at 250 degrees for at least 30 minutes to kill any insects or mold that might be in the mulch. You will know it's dry when you don't feel like you are having a steam facial when you open the oven. If in doubt, give it another 5 or 10 minutes.
Step four: Place newspaper on your kitchen table and spread the mulch around it to let it cool.
Step five: When I had one snake, I was packing individually so each time I changed the cage I had the right amount. Now, I have two so I put it all in one heavy duty garbage bag.
One big bag of garden Cypress mulch will last me most of a year for both of my boys.
I'm in the process of baking my mulch right now. It actually throws out a nice smell as if I have a fireplace in here!
Again, I defer to the moderators, but I have paid way too much for substrate. The reason it's so expensive is because they do this process for you. I don't mind doing it myself to save so much money!
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