Chris,
My long term strategy for Rocket is to give him something similar to what I've given my California Kingsnake. Based on recommendations from folks here on KS.com (and my own tendency to fiddle with ideas), I spread two sheets of newspaper across his entire cage, cover the paper with a thin layer of small bark substrate, and cover the cool side of the cage with a large mound of shredded coconut substrate (Eco Earth or similar). The thin layer of paper and bark on the warm side means that my heaters aren't pumping heat into material that is too insulated for heat to escape. He has hides over the heaters, so he can bask on warm substrate while hidden. The large mound (2 bricks) of Eco Earth on the cool side means that he has a volume of substrate in which to burrow. I think that my CalKing has better muscle tone than some others that I've seen, and I wonder whether the chance to burrow is keeping him strong. Burrowing would seem to be good exercise for a snake, so I like providing that option. I've also found that he can deal with things by burrowing. When he's getting ready to shed, he just disappears into the "dirt" for a week and emerges when he's finished. The substrate also tends to buffer temperature changes, so I believe that he'd handle an unexpected extreme in my house more easily if he had the substrate in which to hide.
Because Rocket is still small, I don't want to put an entire brick of Eco Earth in his cage. If I did, I'd never find him when I needed to clean, feed, or just say hello. I don't know how big I'll want him to be before I make his cage more like my CalKing cage.
My next step on Rocket's cage will likely be to use some big water bowls as containers for the Eco Earth. I have one on order, and if it fits as I hope, I may be adding it in a week or so. In that case, he'll have a paper substrate over most of the cage but also have bowls full of shredded coconut substrate where he can go to burrow. If I need to find him, I can just remove the bowl and pour the substrate through a screen. I'm thinking about getting some of that textured Kraft paper to use as the paper base. That paper has a nice look, and if I wrinkle it a little bit, I think it will give me a little bit of a natural look. Another possibility is to use brown reptile carpet. In any case, I think this setup would strike a good balance among meeting his basic needs, looking nice in my living room, and being easy to clean. If I liked the setup enough, maybe I'd keep it as his permanent setup.
Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.
