I some of the natural substrates will conceal odor to an extent. I have used natural substrate in the past with lizards but not with snakes. Everything I own at this point is on paper. It does not look as nice, but it is a lot easier for me to keep clean. Most of my snakes, unless they are fasting will have a major defecation weekly. This generally means I replace the paper in each tub twice weekly. Once after the usually Wednesday poop, and once after feeding day. It takes around 2-3 minutes to clean a tub and inspect an animal.