First thing we need to cover is this - ball pythons are not made of spun glass.
Yes occasionally, I'd be confident to say actually VERY rarely, a live prey can get a quick nip in. Snakes scales are designed to deal with this quite well - it is after all exactly what they were meant to eat, in a live feeding situation. Snakes normally do not get "torn apart" by a prey item. Injuries of that magnitude to the snake do NOT come from responsible live feeding situations.
Let's remember folks, as we comment on feeding experiences to stay with the reality and not veer off into the drama. Live feeding, done correctly by a responsible snakekeeper whose done their homework on both the snake AND the live prey is as appropriate as frozen/thawed or pre-killed. Were it not then I'd wonder why I have 40 snakes eating live on a regular basis and not a torn apart, prey bite scarred up one in the bunch.
As far as the substrate issue, again - not made of spun glass. Snakes do occasionally ingest small bits of their bedding and their digestive process deals with it quite efficiently. They naturally eat prey off the ground and nature's designed them to do so. Yes if you provide a substrate with big chunks one might get stuck, it happens. Most of the time it won't and your snake will be just fine. Any snake safe substrate is exactly that - safe. Not 100% guaranteed nothing can ever, ever go amiss but safe.
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