From where I bought Pi, all the snakes' terraniums had wood chips in them, so I figured I'd do the same. (Wood chips, not shavings, mind.) The wood chips have been satisfactory, though I do see a few mites from time to time. However, I've been giving Pi regular paths, and that always gets her clean of the mites. Even so, I don't like having mites in the tank, because I've heard from a few seperate and reliable sources that those mites could potentially bite and infect humans with some strange disease from the snake.
I'm told I should get rid of the wood shavings and use newspaper to line the bottom of Pi's tank, but would it be less comfortable for her? Would it be less efficient at soaking up urine or something? Less natural, or whatever? I don't mind making the change to newspaper; I just want to know whether it's better than the wood chips.

Thnx.