i really like cypress mulch myself it holds humidity in a better range for me, easy to spot clean and its not all that expensive if you buy a decent amount at a time. in my humble opinion paper towels are for drying your hands and i always felt that using them just wasnt my way. especially since by nature these snakes like to burrow in termite mounds and the like, i dunno maybe it doesnt matter all that much to them but i try to at least basically mimic a natural environment without being too crazy. although ive seen some truly astounding enclosure setups on here