What is the best type of bedding for a desert (California) banded king snake?

Newspaper or paper towel is the cheapest, most available substrate. These must be replaced daily or when soiled. You may also use cloth towels or carpeting, but these require frequent washing.

You can also use a variety of granular types, like aspen shavings, reptile barks (I can't reccomend any brands, but I hear often about people finding insects, so to be safe, freeze the bark 48h prior to use), animal gravels, or larger sands. These need to be changed monthly, while scooping out daily. I'm not familiar with 'desert snow', but if it has large particles, I would not worry.

Sexing is usually impossible on any reptile without probing. This can be done at a herp vet, but may cost a bit so unless you need to know the sex, I would just assume. Physical characteristics give hints.

Females tend to be larger than males, and have a more tapered tail {\(shorter and skinnier). Here are several care sheets you should really look through.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.