Hi. Welcome to the forum.

I just wanted to let you know of my experiences with paper towels. I think they're awesome and I don't use anything else! My two ball pythons love them as substrate. They rearrange it as they please and they love to sneak beneath and use the paper as an extra hide. They very rarely use their hides and I'm considering taking them out because every time I go in there, they've knocked their hide over and they're under the paper, lol.

Now, I also have a brazilian rainbow boa and they require high humidity. I can still accomplish this using paper towels. I have a large water dish and I leave it over the heat mat. The heat spreads the humidity around perfectly, and I don't need any other source of humidity in there. She does have a humid hide and she uses it sometimes if she needs an extra boost.

I read through the entire thread and I think you're on the right track! Don't be afraid if things get 'messy'. Snakes tend to rearrange their cage how they want them. I don't even bother trying to 'fix' their tubs anymore. I figure they know how to make things comfortable for them lol.