Quote Originally Posted by Snagrio;2741754
Also been having more thoughts on bedding. Seems like everyone has a different opinion on the stuff and I'm honestly at a loss now. I have tons of newspaper so that'd be a nice free option but then it doesn't look as nice and doesn't hold moisture as well. But then I see people mention how coconut fiber has gotten stuck in their snake's mouths and how its humidity-holding properties aren't as important for ball pythons compared to other more humidity-loving reptiles so it's like...
I have a bioactive enclosure so I obviously use loose substrate, if you are worried about ingesting you can cover the top layer with large leaf litter and when feeding you can put them on top of a plastic lid in the enclosure or something that isn't the substrate but some snakes won't eat even after just being moved in the enclosure a little. The way I think about it is that they digest bones so a bit of soft substrate probably isn't gonna be detrimental.
Also remember that they need higher humidity when shedding so the substrate has to be able to handle this.
I'm sure you know but don't use pine or cedar or any wood that secretes oils, even kiln dried is risky!
One last thing (even though you haven't mentioned it) I wouldn't recommend aspen, even though they live in a pretty lowish humidity place they spend basically all their time in more humid places like rodent burrows and stuff - it also rots really easily!