I started on newspaper, didnt like it, switched to aspen, didnt like that either, then switched to unprinted newspaper, and it is possibly the best decision I've ever made! I originally didnt like newspaper cause whenever some water got spilled the ink would stain the tubs and the snake, the aspen I didnt like because it was too dusty and occasionally made it hard to spot clean(my snakes were burying their poo/urates) and it also made it harder to maintain hotspot temps cause the snakes would move substrate around so it was different thickness in all the tubs. unprinted newspaper solved all of those problems in one fell swoop! I always see the poos/urates, the hotspot temps are always the same in every tub, there is no dust at all and no ink to stain the tubs or snake! Its wonderful!..the only issue I have ever had with it is humidity getting a little low, but that is solved with a weekly misting.