I want to switch some of my cages over to a particulate substrate like orchid bark or cyprus mulch or something to that effect but I'm not sure what I want exactly and needs some constructive input.

The first cage I want to do is the 20 long my young Dumeril's boa, Rose, is in. She likes to burrow like the rest of her kind and she doesn't make too much of a mess with waste. I also was thinking of doing the 40 breeder that the ball pythons are in since they also like to burrow and I think thier waste wouldn't be too hard to spot clean. I was thinking I'd still put newspaper under the mulch so that I could remove it fairly easily when I wanted to change the whole cage. None of this is for aesthetic purposes since my cages are not on display, I was just thinking the animals would like it. I would like to do the bull snake cage as well but there are two problems: she eats in her cage and her waste is considorably more frequent, more liquid and SMELLIER than that of the boids, so I guess I'll have to hold off.

Suggestions? Pointers? Comments?

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Soil is my personal favorite. Dig up what you need, pop it in the oven, and BAM, you've got a parasite free, all natural, cheap substrate. I dunno how well they'd be able to burrow in it though. Think they could? If not, you can usually buy potting soil with peat mulch in it, but you'd obviously have to get one that has no pesticides or fertilizers. Orchid bark would be my next choice after those two.

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I would use orchid bark for anyone who needed more humidity. Its gonna be heavier and harder to clean and much more expensive. I do think they may prefer the orchid bark though.

Other than that I would use cypress mulch. Its cheaper and easier to clean.