My BP has only ever been on coco husk (from bricks) but when I change it, it's too damp and he will do the same thing and try to avoid crawling on it. So what I've started doing is to set aside about 1/4 of a brick from the 2 bricks I'm going to use.
Put the fresh, wet coco husk in tank and let it sit under heat lamp at full for a while. Then before putting decor back in, I'll crumble up and use that 1/4 brick to put a thin dry layer on top of the substrate.